What is the point of living?

While reading The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, the underlying theme of existentialism led me to question life. What is the point of living? I may sound melancholy but the truth is all humans die. If one does not die early in their youth, he or she will eventually die in old age. In this play, Firs, an elderly man is forgotten by the others in the house. Now why is Firs neglected one may ask? Sadly, it is because he is old. The characters in the play seem to have no interest in Firs, especially Yasha –Firs’ grandson- who is disrespectful to Firs throughout the whole play. Firs, who is also ill, is believed to be in the hospital, but is actually upstairs alone. The characters leave the estate forgetting about Firs, and he is eventually left all alone to die. When one reaches old age, does he or she become less important in life?

In the play Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, the main character Winnie, like Firs, seems to be forgotten too. Winnie is basically left alone in a hole to die. Despite its comedic overview, the question of life is not very funny. After reading Endgame, also by Samuel Beckett, I noticed that the characters, Hamm and Clov are dragging through life; as if life is a burden. Clov says to Hamm, “Mean something! You and I mean something! Ah that’s a good one!”(Beckett 23). Hamm and Clov feel they mean nothing in life and they are very suicidal. They too, like Firs, are lonely old men and have nothing to live for.

Furthermore, old age is a stage in life where one is forgotten and left alone. By reading these plays, it led me to believe that eventually life will become boring and pointless. I may sound pessimistic, but one must accept the fact that everyone will die. However, it is how somebody lives their life that the meaning of life will be determined. Personally, I think if one views life as meaningful and lively, being forgotten in old age would not be a problem, but that is not always the case. The youth in our society is caught up with caring about only themselves and material items that they forget about the elderly and how much they can learn from them. The elderly is full of wisdom that they can teach us, but they are disregarded by us and sadly, forgotten.