International Journal of Language & Literature

A Schopenhauer an Approach to Oscar and Lucinda
Shahram R. Sistani

Abstract
This paper is an attempt to scrutinize the Schopenhauer an concept of disinterestedness in Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda (1988). The structure of Carey’s novel has a close affinity with Schopenhauer’s theory of witlessness. Ironically, this novel brings to the light Carey’s use of inner monologue; by which the reader reaches access to the interior thoughts of its principal characters. The study displays that the novel is inhabited by a host of characters whose lives are stayed with a pathological dreariness, a sense of their own isolation from Australian society. This article aims to show how the cessation of willful activity and disinterestedness of which Schopenhauer wrote are common to the characters’ narrative voices in Oscar and Lucinda, in particular that they are disinterested in their own interests. Ultimately, the study shows that characters’ inner thoughts can be interpreted as a better understanding of their inner worlds.

Full Text: PDF      DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v4n1a28