In the novel of Simone de Beauvoir, Fosca is a man who is the only one who cannot die. However, he becomes unhappy because all his friends die and leave him. The Fosca effect is therefore the feeling of an old person when he or she outlives their friends and the other people around them also disappear. It is a mixture of melancholy, pride and the guilt of still being alive.
Why is your father so sad? It's the Fosca effect, another one of his school friends has died.
I really must write my memoirs. It's probably the Fosca effect: if I don't do it, who else will?
The Fosca effect is quite natural when you get very old.
I really must write my memoirs. It's probably the Fosca effect: if I don't do it, who else will?
The Fosca effect is quite natural when you get very old.
by ThePhysopher June 16, 2025