The Meaning Of Life In Albert Camus The Myth Of Sisyphus

Improved Essays
Emily Whelan 10/1/16 In The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus argues what the meaning of life really is. In this paper, I will explain the story of Sisyphus, and how it symbolizes the meaning of life. First, I will explain how Sisyphus was punished by doing meaningless labor for the rest of eternity. Then, I will break down how Camus describes Sisyphus as an absurd hero. Finally, I will show that no matter how absurd something is, one could still find happiness. In the beginning, Camus starts out by explaining the consequences of Sisyphus’ actions to give the reader some idea of what this whole essay is about. Camus …show more content…
I would never say that Sisyphus is a hero, but an absurd hero is different. He understands the absurdity of life. Even though he knows how crazy it is, he tries and makes the best of it. He will never truly obtain full and complete happiness, just like any average human being. We are never fully content. We take what we get and we try and make the best of it. Facing the absurd is a struggle in itself. Add in all the other factors of life and the absurd seems impossible to get through. Once you realize that what you are doing is absurd and really understand that, that is when the absurd gets …show more content…
When you think about it, in our everyday working lives there is no ending result to it either. This may be morbid, but we do these meaningless jobs until we die. So our lives are no less absurd than Sisyphus’s life. This does not mean that happiness is not possible. Happiness is completely and totally possible. Once we accept the repetition of our lives, that is when we can find happiness. That is the meaning of life according to Camus. Once we find our fate and are okay with it, that is when we can be happy. Camus tells us that if we accept that there is nothing more to life, then we will find happiness. "Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth". Camus makes it clear that you cannot really have one without the other. Sure things get a little crazy sometimes but as they say, there is always a light at the end of a dark tunnel. For Sisyphus, that light was every time he finished rolling that rock up the hill. He had those few moments when the rock was rolling down the hill to appreciate the hard work he has put into it. Those few moments of pure joy that he has accomplished something. We all have those moments sometimes. For example, when I finally finish something hard, like writing a paper on philosophy, I have that moment of simple bliss when I realize that I have accomplished something. That moment

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Everyone has their own individual definition of happiness. Richard Taylor describes happiness as “a state of being, not a mere feeling” (Taylor, 116), but how may one come to this total state of fulfillment? Vivien Sung who wrote Five-Fold Happiness and Richard Taylor who wrote a chapter on happiness in his book An Introduction to Virtue Ethics both agree that happiness is made up of many different parts. Because happiness is made up of different components, achieving prosperity, longevity, and wealth are three elements that can lead to being fully…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story of Sisyphus, if existentialism is best defined as “existence precedes essence”, Sisyphus is an existential hero because of his existential viewpoint on his torture in the underworld and his ability to control his fate. Firstly, Sisyphus’ existential viewpoint on his torture supports his status as an existential hero because Sisyphus’ task of pushing the rock up the hill indefinitely is only considered torture when he acknowledges the desolate essence of his labor. For example, Sisyphus is portrayed as an existential hero in this case because if he chooses to view the boulder-rolling as a task that merely exists to be completed in the present, he is no longer burdened. Through his acknowledgement of the existence of the task and…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Sisyphus Argument Essay

    • 1932 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The philosopher Albert Camus paints and bleak picture of the human existence, saying that our lives have no meaning and are, as a consequence absurd, because all our efforts are futile and hopeless. However, if we can accept that choice is intrinsic to a thinking being, then we can admit to ourselves that everything we do, no matter how insignificant, possesses some meaning and it gives our existence purpose. There are two certainties in life deduced by the thinking of Rene Descartes; one is that we are a thinking mind and the other is that we exist. I want to extend this thinking further to include the obligation to choose, find what is sufficient for purpose and meaning and conclude that we have enough in our current conditions.…

    • 1932 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “It has all come true. – I stand revealed—born of shame, married in shame, an unnatural murderer.” (Sophocles, 69) Therefore, Oedipus provides two more qualities of a tragic hero—the reversal of destiny, and the understanding that he brought it upon…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Outline Is Odysseus a hero According to Maya Angelou a “Hero is any person really intent on making a better place for all people.” In other words, a hero is someone that makes sacrifices, and contributes to others. In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus must defeat supernatural obstacles such as gods, and cyclops to return home to his son and wife after 20 years. Although Odysseys is quickly perceived as a hero through its narrative perspective, He is ultimately an antihero which is explained through Odysseus’s selfish personality, and lack of compassion.…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Odysseus: A True Hero

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A true hero is somebody with courage or ability, he or she is admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. As a reader, if you are reading the Odyssey then you will read about a character Odysseus. Reading the Odyssey you have to know what type of person Odysseus is. The reader has to determine whether Odysseus is a hero or a bad person. Odysseus is a hero because he disguised himself as a beggar to see how the suitors were treating his land and his wife, Penelope and he came home, traveling through horrible conditions, to be with his family once again, and to meet his son him and Penelope had before he went to the Trojan War.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It’s safe to assume that most people strive to be happy in their life. Individual happiness can be defined in a number of ways, for many people wealth is the answer to becoming happy while others may view health as an important component to happiness. Seneca, a wealthy and notable philosopher during the Roman Imperial period, does not consider wealth nor health as essential to our own happiness. Instead, he regards virtue alone as being sufficient for happiness (Vogt 2016). Aristotle, on the other hand, does not regard happiness as a human feeling but he views it more as an objective state or an achievement (Aristotle on Eudaimonia).…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Rousseau On Happiness

    • 2076 Words
    • 9 Pages

    One of the most renowned philosophers, Jean-Jacques Rousseau once asked, “what is the source of our happiness...?”. He believed that the answer was “the simple feeling of existence… [and] as long as this state lasts we are self-sufficient like God” (Critchley 449). The quest for happiness has been the greatest interest of humans since ancient history. However, what is happiness? “The New English Dictionary… offers the famously unhelpful [definition:] ‘state of pleasurable content of mind, which results from success of the attainment of what is considered good’”…

    • 2076 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Summary of Adam Grant Adam Grant’s article, “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy,” discusses finding happiness. Grant’s thesis indicates that, trying to be happy will not make us happy. He evaluates an individual case by applying different happiness related theories. At the beginning, Adam Grant points out that searching out for happiness is not a correct way of persuading happiness.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The idea of a trial is for a victim to get justice and for a criminal to be punished for his or her crime. The way that the punishment is decided depends on the jury and on the judges chosen to listen to the case. The novel The Stranger by Albert Camus is based on a man who is charged with premeditated murder and sentenced to death by guillotine. The book starts off with the death of the central character, Meursault’s, mother. In the very beginning of the book we are introduced to Meursault’s peculiar behavior.…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Existentialism is a philosophy that the choices individual makes should be responsible for it and should accept their own act without consent of other people. Its beliefs are centred on the idea of finding the meaning of life through different choices and situations. In the view of existentialist, this world is meaningless and absurd. It is the way that let external factor affect us that determine who we are. As individuals we have freedom to make our own choices and that’s what life's all about.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Happiness is very essential in life. If you lead a happy life, you will live for many years. Happiness is that elusive thing we are all striving for and hoping to find. Everyone seeks to be happy and live a more fulfilling life. Happiness is mostly an attitude, a feeling of satisfaction with yourself and your place in the world.…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The pursuit of happiness can be arduous if one’s interpretation of happiness is entitled to the idea of happiness depending on the ability to get what we want. Nevertheless, happiness is defined as showing pleasure or contentment with a person, situation, or the self. According to psychologist Dan Gilbert, however, happiness can be divided into two concepts: natural happiness and synthetic happiness. Gilbert defines natural happiness as what people get when they get what they wanted, and synthetic happiness as what people make when they don’t get what they wanted. Indeed, natural happiness can produce genuine happiness, but the flaw in this kind of happiness is that people don’t always get what they want.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy” is a journal article that was written by Emily Esfahani Smith. It was published on January 9, 2013. Its purpose is simply to explain to the audience that, ‘It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness’ (Smith 2013). I very much enjoyed this journal article because after reading it I felt that I had actually connected to it. For example, a big topic that she focused on while writing this article, was that being happy dealt with “taking”, while living a meaningful life, dealt with “giving” (Smith 2013).…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I find that the definition of happiness depends on the person and circumstances, and to me happiness is not a mere emotion that I wish to have every single moment in my life. Happiness is a relative term that some people consider an expected result of doing good deeds, and I believe it is a memorable feeling that lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of effort and always linked to a place in some way. In order to understand what happiness is, I looked into my past and tried to find out if there is a formula for happiness. From my perspective, the level of personal happiness fluctuates depending on the situation.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays