How did Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea express existentialist ideas through fiction?

In his 1938 novel Nausea, Jean-Paul Sartre utilizes the diary format to dramatize the core tenets of existentialist philosophy. The protagonist, Roquentin, experiences recurring feelings of revulsion—the titular "nausea"—when confronted with the sheer, indifferent materiality of the world and his own body.12

This narrative serves as a vehicle for several existentialist themes:

• The Problematic Nature of Existence: Roquentin’s realization of the "banality and emptiness of existence" reflects the existentialist focus on the concrete, often difficult character of human life.13
• Alienation and Indifference: By stripping away the structures of work, love, and friendship, Sartre places his protagonist in an indifferent world, highlighting the individual's isolation.1
• The Burden of Freedom: The novel explores the necessity for the individual to discover meaning and value within themselves, as there is no external, guaranteed purpose to human life.14

Ultimately, Nausea acts as a "fiercely individualistic" exploration of consciousness, illustrating the tension between human existence and the material world that Sartre would later formalize in his philosophical work, Being and Nothingness.2