Nausea By Sartre

The famous ending, where Roquentin decides to write a novel, is often debated. It's not a triumphant overcoming of Nausea. It's a fragile, personal, aesthetic solution—a decision to create an artificial, beautiful order (a novel) to escape the horror of contingent existence. It's ambiguous, not uplifting.

Sartre uses the motif of viscosity and fluidity throughout the novel to represent the entrapment of existence. The sea, the damp air, the sticky tables in the café—everything seems to be melting, losing its distinct shape. This physical stickiness mirrors Roquentin’s mental state. He feels trapped in a world that is too present, too thick, refusing to evaporate or resolve into distinct ideas. nausea by sartre

Through Roquentin's encounters with other characters (like the "Self-Taught Man" who believes in the religion of Humanism, or his former lover Anny who lives for "perfect moments"), Sartre critiques how people use abstract ideas, roles, and rituals to avoid confronting the raw, meaningless fact of their own existence. The famous ending, where Roquentin decides to write

As the music plays, he notes something strange. The song’s notes exist, but they do not feel superfluous . The melody is a pure, necessary structure. Unlike the chestnut tree, the song has a right to be because it was created by human intention. It is a small island of essence in a sea of contingent existence. It's ambiguous, not uplifting