My Quest For The Meaning Of Life

Record 2: Metaphors

As my quest for the meaning of life continues I find myself doing research in perhaps the most intellectually challenging places to investigate. The classic arts. Upon recommendation, I borrowed from the library a book titled 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. A gothic novel, it is very wordy and can at times be dramatically philosophical, which when searching for the meaning of life can be very helpful, or restraining. I gained knowledge of this novel when speaking to a friend about the meaning of life and he declared me wrong when I gave my easy answer of "have fun". He told to me to read 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' to gain perspective. Halfway through it and my friend has his last day at school. I have no idea when I will see him again, and hope that it will be soon. However, because I do not know for sure, it makes me question the purpose of even finishing the book if I have no one to challenge my opinions once completed. Maybe it will help me find the meaning of life, but with no one to tell me I'm wrong my search could end with a faulty answer. As I considered this, a thought that rather surprised me crossed my mind. It was as follows: "He is gone, so what's the point?" This "what's the point" is what stood out to me, for I remembered another context in which I had used this phrase. "We're all going to die anyway, so what's the point?" This is where we get my discovery of a metaphor, unintentionally handed to me. The point is to get to the end yes? Because perhaps at the end there will be answers. I could choose to stop reading because I have no one to discuss my discoveries with, or I could continue into the unknown and try to learn something. The idea that something will come to an end, (in this case the comparison is between books and life) is what makes me question the relevance of our existence or endeavors. So why am I going to keep reading, and why am I going to keep living when both can be cut short and ended at my will? It may seem heavy to compare not finishing a book to suicide, but if you think about it hard enough, the cutting off of knowledge could be thought of as intellectual suicide. But the reason I must continue is because I am curious as to what comes next.