Philosophical Exploration of Existentialism and Absurdism in Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library

Abstract

The philosophy of existentialism has made many writers to pen down their thoughts about the existence of human beings and the meaning of life. Existentialist theory states that human beings can establish their own meaning of life just by using their consciousness. The power of free will and personal responsibility can enable the human being to define his meaning of life. However, Absurdism contradicts the idea of Existentialism by emphasizing that there is no meaning of life, and that meaninglessness leads to suicide. The purpose of this very paper is to explore the Existentialist and Absurdist themes in Matt Haig’s novel The Midnight Library. The qualitative research methodology has been used for this research and the data is collected by purposive sampling. While Albert Camus’ theory of Existentialism and Absurdism has been chosen as a theoretical framework for this paper. The analysis testifies that the elements of Absurdism and Existentialism have been impregnated by Matt Haig in his novel The Midnight Library. For future recommendations, the novel can be analyzed by the lens of Magical Realism and Psychoanalysis.