Rarely in this world does anything turn out to be an objective or even partially objective matter. Certain axioms must always be considered true. In mathematics, there are sixteen axioms for using and correctly proving things with simple real numbers, one of the first and simplest tools in a person's arsenal. Most of them are not difficult to accept, such as "for all x and y in the set R, x + y = y + x", but other principles and ideas contain much more controversial assumptions such as “God exists. » In this world, the only truth one can believe in lies in one's conscience. Enter existentialism, a philosophy that humans give meaning to their own lives and are equally responsible for them. Another way to look at it: “Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe. » (To be better quoted later; from our lecture notes) Whether or not a certain individual's environment qualifies remains an open question; However, the characters in the books most often live within a well-defined framework that is subject to the scrutiny of others. Since a character's innermost thoughts and feelings in a book are clearly visible, the label existentialism easily applies to that character when appropriate. A man named John Fowles incorporated a lot of philosophy into his book, The Collector, and as such the subject of this article relates to his work. In the tale, a young girl named Miranda Gray is kidnapped by a man named Fredrick Clegg, and through their interactions, the identification of many key themes of existentialism becomes apparent to the observant and educated reader. These key themes manifest through the nature of Miranda's environment...... middle of paper ......e respect for Miranda and referred to her as "one of those girls" when she tried to seduce him. He viewed the situation as if one could choose between black and white and believed the world would be better off with more people like him. We could characterize these differences as opposition between liberal and conservative points of view. “Because they hate us, they hate us because we are different, because we are not them, because theirs are not like us. They persecute us, they chase us, they send us to Coventry, they mock us, they yawn at us, they blindfold themselves and cover their ears. They do everything to avoid having to notice us and respect us. They run after the greatest among us when we are dead. They pay thousands and thousands of dollars for Van Goghs and Modiglianis that they spit on when they were painted. » (218 Collector)Works citedThe Collector