December 3, 2013
Nausea By: Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre wrote his novel, Nausea based on the roots of existentialism about Antoine Roquentin a historian researcher that traveled all around the world and moved to Bouville, France. Roquentin was extensively researching Marquis de Rollebon for many years even moved to where Rollebon was from Bouville, France in order to finish writing a book about him. Roquentin started having unexplainable odd feeling in certain places and of specific objects. He then decided to start writing a diary in order to record all of the odd and new feelings and events that occur when this new feeling occurs and hopefully to determine the extent and nature of the change. He is overwhelmed with this feeling that he explains is called nausea. The nausea occurred internally and externally when he held a chestnut, a rock, and a wet paper on the street. When he held the objects he called it “nausea of the hands.” In order to take his mind off of nausea he decides to research more about Rollebon but begins to question his own existence. He concludes that all the research his done about Rollebon justified his existence, but it was the exact opposite he had been hiding from his existence. He abandoned his research on Rollebon and focused on objects but only transparency not the actually essence of the object. His nausea roots from his perception of an objects essence, where he tries look past its essence and focus on its existence. That’s when he starts to see objects and people masked. He believed he lost a complete connection with the external world because he lived a life of solidarity. His solidarity had him believe that he only exists. His conscious mind knew of existence but an existence is nothingness. He made a friend named Self-taught man in order to not be lonely although they argued a lot they spent much time together. He then