comes first and essence comes later Revelation Under The Tree Under the chestnut tree Roquentin has a clear vision of pure existence He feels that everything in the world simply is He writes Existence must invade you suddenly master you weigh heavily on your heart This scene reveals Sartre s belief that existence is heavy unnecessary and absurd The world has no fixed essence man must face it and create meaning on his own Freedom and Creation Ultimately Roquentin comes to understand that freedom entails creating one's essence through action Listening to music he says I felt my body harden and the Nausea vanish He decides to write a novel to give meaning to his life Thus Sartre shows that man s freedom and creativity form his true essence after existence In short through Roquentin s journey Sartre clearly expresses existentialism Man first exists in a meaningless world and later shapes his own essence through freedom awareness and creative choice This is Sartre s living proof that existence precedes essence