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    Flicker Fade Gone

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    Vanya Danyella Barachita
    This critique paper analyzes the short story "FlickerFadeGone" by Carljoe Javier, which explores the theme of identity crisis. The story follows an unnamed boy who feels disconnected from reality and finds purpose in video games. Using Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism, the author argues that through his actions in games and relationships, the boy is defining his own identity and purpose, rather than having it defined by others. Key events in the story, like the boy's desire to help a girl he likes, demonstrate existentialist ideas about how people define themselves through their choices and experiences. The critique concludes that by using nameless characters and plot details, Javier effectively conveyed the importance of

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    Flicker Fade Gone

    Uploaded by

    Vanya Danyella Barachita
    1K views3 pages
    This critique paper analyzes the short story "FlickerFadeGone" by Carljoe Javier, which explores the theme of identity crisis. The story follows an unnamed boy who feels disconnected from reality and finds purpose in video games. Using Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism, the author argues that through his actions in games and relationships, the boy is defining his own identity and purpose, rather than having it defined by others. Key events in the story, like the boy's desire to help a girl he likes, demonstrate existentialist ideas about how people define themselves through their choices and experiences. The critique concludes that by using nameless characters and plot details, Javier effectively conveyed the importance of

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    FlickerFadeGone

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    This critique paper analyzes the short story "FlickerFadeGone" by Carljoe Javier, which explores the theme of identity crisis. The story follows an unnamed boy who feels disconnected from reality and finds purpose in video games. Using Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism, the author argues that through his actions in games and relationships, the boy is defining his own identity and purpose, rather than having it defined by others. Key events in the story, like the boy's desire to help a girl he likes, demonstrate existentialist ideas about how people define themselves through their choices and experiences. The critique concludes that by using nameless characters and plot details, Javier effectively conveyed the importance of

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    1K views3 pages

    Flicker Fade Gone

    Uploaded by

    Vanya Danyella Barachita
    This critique paper analyzes the short story "FlickerFadeGone" by Carljoe Javier, which explores the theme of identity crisis. The story follows an unnamed boy who feels disconnected from reality and finds purpose in video games. Using Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism, the author argues that through his actions in games and relationships, the boy is defining his own identity and purpose, rather than having it defined by others. Key events in the story, like the boy's desire to help a girl he likes, demonstrate existentialist ideas about how people define themselves through their choices and experiences. The critique concludes that by using nameless characters and plot details, Javier effectively conveyed the importance of

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Barachita, Vanya Danyella V.

    11-Darwin

    21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

    “Identity: A Critique Paper on ‘FlickerFadeGone’”

    “FlickerFadeGone,” a short story written by Carljoe Javier, shares the life of an avid

    gamer who feels disconnected between fantasy and reality. Javier uses this concept to address the

    prevailing problem of loss of identity. This is backed up by Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism, the

    free will of people to decide on their purpose. By using the correct elements, the author provides

    great insight on this topic.

    In most stories, authors give their characters a name for the viewers to remember.

    However, no one in “FlickerFadeGone” is named. Everyone is addressed using a common noun

    – man, boy, girl. Even though it is unconventional, Javier used it to point out that everyone is

    capable of experiencing what the characters experience. The anonymity of the people involved in

    the story breaks any ties or association to another person. It also prevents the motivations of the

    character from being connected to their name. Sartre, in his book “Existentialism is a

    Humanism,” said that “Man is nothing else than his plan; he exists only to the extent that he

    fulfills himself; he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his
    life.” This quote proved that having a name will only let the readers define the identity of the

    characters, instead of their plans, which goes against the philosophy of existentialism.

    In the beginning of the story, the narrator tells that the boy had a dream of wanting to

    disappear. At a young age, he realizes that he can fulfill his dream whenever he plays a game

    because his reflection goes away whenever the screen appears. “In life man commits himself and

    draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing,” Sartre quoted in his book. By playing

    games, he finds his worthiness and purpose. He realizes the importance of his role even though

    in real life he is nothing. What Javier did in the plot supported the theme of the story.

    Existentialism seeks to find one’s purpose during their existence, and the flow of events proved

    this true.

    When the boy started liking a girl, he describes the experience using the Super Mario

    Bros game, with Princess Toadstool as the girl he saves and King Koopa as their enemy. He

    hopes that he will be remembered by her as the one who saved her, but he is only remembered as

    the guy who fixes the machines. Sartre once said, “But on the other hand, it helps people to

    understand that reality alone counts, and that dreams, expectations and hopes only serve to define

    a man as a broken dream, aborted hopes, and futile expectations.” What existentialism wants to

    say is that every action is part of a man’s identity. Here, it is both saving the girl and being

    forgotten as someone who helped. This conflict in the story allowed readers to understand more

    about the character’s identity despite having a bad side.


    The short story excellently manifested the theme of the story, identity crisis. By using the

    plot, conflict, and nameless characters, Javier evidently showed the importance of knowing one’s

    self. Beyond what is shown to everybody lies the true identity and purpose of a person.

    Works Cited

    Javier, C. “FlickerFadeGone.” From 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World,

    by Marikit Tara Uychoco, 1st ed., Rex Book Store, Inc., 2016, pp. 55-60.

    Sartre, J.P. (2007). Existentialism is a humanism. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University

    Press.

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