Fatalism Without Desire

Grant's distinction: a hopeless protagonist who still wants something (Dostoevsky's Underground Man, Fallada's drinker) is compelling; one who has given up all desire (Dazai) is not.

Where it appears 1

• 
  the antidote to madnessEp 2 · with Grant Shipway

  Listen at 30:46Read it in the transcript

Connections

Related

• Existential Angst

In tension with

• Pain as Beginning

Explored through

• Futile aspiration beats no desireGrant Shipway · Ep 2 · 30:46

  A protagonist who still wants something, however absurd, is more compelling than one who has given up wanting anything.

References

• No Longer Human
• Notes from Underground
• The Drinker