The Effects of An Existential Crisis in Peter Cameron’s “Homework”

The Effects of An Existential Crisis in Peter Cameron’s “Homework”
Esteemed poet, and victim of severe depression, Edgar Allan Poe stated, “I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow”(Good Reads). People dealing with depression are likely to become engulfed with misery and melancholy, where their world and everyone around them becomes meaningless. In the short story “Homework” by Peter Cameron, the protagonist named Michael is mourning the death of his beloved dog Ked. This sorrow develops into a deeper state of depression, and Michael misses an entire week of school because he claims to be unhappy. In turn, this depression affects the way he perceives his own life, and the life of others, and leads him to see every aspect of life in a negative and pointless light. In essence, the text illustrates how people who are affected by severe depression, often experience an existential crisis in which they question the very meaning and purpose of life itself. This will be demonstrated by Michael’s indifferent attitude towards his life, his dismal perception of the lives of his family members, as well as the allegorical aspect of the deserted Photo-Matica machine.
In “Homework”, Michael demonstrates how depression often leads people to believe that they lead meaningless and empty lives. For example, when speaking to his father about the loss of his dog, Michael mentions how he is mourning the death of his dog, but he also adds the fact that he is “sad in general”(Cameron, 14). Thus, Michael feels an overwhelming amount of sadness towards every aspect in his life. As well, this theme is demonstrated in the letter Michael writes to excuse his absence from school, in which he claims: “I was unhappy and did not feel able to attend school”(15). When one of his teachers questions Michael about what prompted him to write this excuse, he responds by saying that speaking about his issues will make him “…. more unhappy… it might even make me cry” (16). Thus, this excuse clearly illustrates how his depression is consuming him with grief, which in turn, prohibits him from attending school, and thus doesn’t allow him to lead his normal life. Michael is unable to confront or speak about his misery because he believes that it will make him unhappier if he does so. In addition, during his Spanish class while watching a movie, Michael distorts a joyful image of flamenco dancers saying that it " looks a little as if the women are sick, and dancing in Heaven” (15). Moreover, Michael’s inner conflict is engulfing him with melancholic emotions. These emotions evoke negativity in his thoughts and distract him from concentrating on his schoolwork.
Michael’s negative views and opinions towards the lives of his family members clearly illustrates how people deeply impacted by depression will not only consider their lives meaningless, but will question the purpose of the lives of others too. For example, when observing his sister before she leaves for work, Michael describes the beauty routine she follows for her hair and face: “Every night before my sister goes to her job she washes her hair in the kitchen sink with beer and mayonnaise and eggs...steams her face” (13). He also claims that she “so badly wants to be beautiful”(13). Michael ponders the meaning of his sister’s life, which as he describes through examples, is solely based on the concept of empty vanity. To add, when Michael goes to see his father in the garage, they share a mutual feeling of empty hope upon reopening the garage door. They both stare longingly out at the snow, hoping pointlessly, that the “world might have changed” (14). Simply put, through this moment, Michael gets a sense that like him, his father’s life has no purpose or specific meaning either. In addition, while in the bathroom with his mother and sister, Michael observes his mother watering and staring and her plants: “she has arranged them in the tub and turned the shower on. She sits on the toilet lid and watches” (13). Michael ponders the significance of his mother’s life as he observes his mother engaging in this pointless act. He sees this process as meaningless and insignificant, and doesn’t believe that there is any value to what she is doing. Thus, in Michael’s opinion, his mother is yet another family member who like him, leads a life with no purpose.
In “Homework”, the Photo-Matica conveyer belt is a symbol, which reinforces the idea that people affected by depression will question the very foundations of life, and ask themselves whether life has any meaning, purpose or value at all. For example, when Michael’s decides to go to work with his sister at the Photo-Matica machine, Michael points out that the machine, like his life and existence, is all but an illusion: “The machine gives the illusion that your photographs are being developed on the spot. It’s a fake” (17). Life according to Michael is pointless, worthless, and irrelevant, and thus he looks at life in a negative light and claims that like the Photo-Matica machine, there is no truth or meaning to it. As well, when observing the Photo-Matica machine, Michael notes how: “the same fifty photographs roll through over and over…everyone in this town is taking the same pictures” (17). Thus, with this observation, Michael is insinuating how everyone lives seemingly ordinary lives, which are often very similar to one another. This similarity, in his opinion, leads to boring, and rather insignificant lives that have no unique or individual value. Similarly, in another one of Michael’s observation, he notices the repetitious sequence of photographs riding down the conveyor belt: ' 'graduation, birthday, mountains, baby, baby, new car, bride, bride and groom, house ' ' (17). This perpetual cycle seems like the predicable way of life. The constant repetition renders these beautiful events worthless.
In conclusion, Peter Cameron’s “Homework” suggests that when people are affected by severe depression, they are likely to experience an existential crisis in which they question essence of life. This is illustrated through Michael’s apathy towards school, chores, and his normal routine, and is also shown through Michael’s negative perception of the lives of his family member’s. As well, this theme is demonstrated through the symbol of the deserted Photo-Matica machine, which represents the emptiness, and solitude that Michael feels inside.

Work Cited
Cameron, Peter. “Homework.” The O Henry Awards. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday, 1985.

222-228.Print.

"Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Cited: Cameron, Peter. “Homework.” The O Henry Awards. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday, 1985. 222-228.Print. "Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.