Existentialism is an expression of the belief that man creates his existence through choice and action. The individual is placed at the center. The philosophy of existentialism is that man has the right to freedom, but he must also take responsibility for his life choices. This can be transferred to the fact that every man has his own luck. The short story Tørdokken was written in 1949 by the German author Stefan Andres. It was translated into Danish in 1995 by Mogens Grandenwitz and was written during the period known as the war and interwar period, this period spanning from 1940 to 1960. Although Tørdokken was written during the war and the interwar period, this is not the case. deal with this period, but first of all with the second, namely the end of the 18th century. “The first dry dock in Toulon was built at the end of the 18th century” The short story Tørdokken is written like a story. In part one we talk briefly about the dry dock and the custom that led to its invention by Grognard. In the second part, the story tells how a selected galley slave must drop the supports under the ship. If he manages to do so without dying, he is free to leave. If they fail to do so, they will be crushed by the ship. In the third part, the dry dock is built and the consequences of its behavior and use are seen. The Dry Dock is written in the third person of the narrator, who is related to Grognard. "He knew that his ridicule would be sealed if he revealed the true driving force behind this great project" (lines 64-66) The quote above of course says that the narrator is personally connected to Grognard, but that there is also an internal point of view on him, as one place in the short story gives insight into Gorgnard's thoughts, as we do in the caustic quote. The reason why Tørdokken, in terms of genre, was placed in the middle of. paper......better if he was a human being, Galejslaven would have put himself in this tragic situation. Based on existentialism, every man is his own luck, meaning that the galley slave himself is responsible for his tragic death due to the choices he made. In the short story, Grognard is also his own luck. Starting from the promise he made to himself to build the dry dock, he makes a choice here which leads him in a certain direction. The direction can be changed by making new choices, but he stands by his decision, which ultimately results in him losing his life and having to realize that he was wrong. Before building the dry dock, the galley slaves had a chance at peace or freedom, but he took away their fateful chance at life or death. He took their freedom and their chance to find peace instead of rotting in a prison and they took his life where he had his freedom..