The Psychological Trap That Makes You CRAVE The End of The World

We live suspended between the tick and the tock of a clock whose hands we cannot see. This constant, chaotic flow of time—a relentless, unstructured now—is a source of profound human anxiety. To cope, we tell ourselves stories. More specifically, we tell ourselves stories about the end. The literary critic Frank Kermode, in his seminal work, uncovered a startling truth about the human psyche: we secretly crave the apocalypse. Not out of a desire for destruction, but out of a desperate need for meaning. Kermode argues that narratives of catastrophe are a form of comfort, an anesthetic against the pain of an arbitrary existence. By imagining an end, we impose a beginning, a middle, and a coherent plot upon the terrifying randomness of life, transforming the meaningless passage of time into a story with purpose.

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The Structure of an Ending

Overview of the Lectures

Frank Kermode’s work centers around the duality of chronos and kairos in literature, distinguishing between the linear progression of time and the significant, transformative moments that fiction elevates to importance. This exploration draws upon a broad array of examples, spanning from ancient texts such as Plato to modernist works by notable figures like William Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Samuel Beckett. Kermode critiques how literature addresses “ends,” often through failed apocalyptic visions that adapt to new contexts, contrasting closed narrative forms, like novels, with more open-ended forms, such as short stories, which reflect life’s continual flux.

The Role of Endings in Narrative

Kermode’s analysis highlights the crucial function of narrative endings, portraying them as mechanisms of closure that transform the chaotic flow of time into structured, meaningful experiences. This concept, described as a “suspense of suspense,” refers to the anticipation built within a narrative, culminating in a final “tock” that organizes the experience between an initial “tick” and its conclusion. Endings, thus, impose a qualitative framework upon the unending nature of chronos, achieving what Kermode terms “temporal integration.” For instance, in Shakespeare’s work, the ironic ending involving Cordelia’s death subverts expectations, revealing a deeper dissonance within the narrative.

Impact and Reception

Kermode’s work, initially published by Oxford University Press, has garnered attention for its interdisciplinary approach, melding literary theory with philosophical and theological insights. It addresses how fiction can counteract the “degeneration into myth” and respond to the rise of the Absurd prevalent in 20th-century literature, including the French nouveau roman. The lectures presented in this book have sparked discussions about the evolution of Western literature, particularly the shift from themes of apocalypse to tragedy and ultimately to absurdity, providing a rich terrain for literary scholars and enthusiasts alike.

To hear more, visit www.philosopheasy.com