If you haven't read or researched Albert Camus (1913-60) before, here's a bit of info about him. Camus was a writer and philosopher or we can say he was a writer that was very interested in philosophy. He was specifically interested in Existentialism. His writings explore and question existence. Many of his characters realize that life has no meaning and the only meaning life has, is the one we give to it.
Sisyphus, our absurd hero ( he sees life as a constant struggle - there is no hope), rolls a boulder up a hill forever. That's his life. Over and over. He pushes the boulder up, at the top he lets it go, and then he watches it roll down to the bottom. He walks to the bottom, and repeats. Pretty painful. Or is it not?
Camus is asking us to think differently about Sisyphus' eternal punishment. We are supposed to "imagine" him happy. Why? Camus tells us, "Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable." Sisyphus becomes "superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock." What is Camus asking us to think about? Is Sisyphus a hero after all? How can he ever be happy?
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ReplyDeleteI think in his own little world he is somewhat happy with what he has. I guess since he has no way out of the punishment that the gods had given him, he has accepted his fate and has seen the glass half full. I feel like Camus is trying to compare an actual working man in real life to this absurd hero named Sisyphis. This punishment of pushing a boulder up forever signifies the harsh reality of redundancy. Honestly, life is what you make of it and even though at times there may be repititions, it's best to be optimistic. You are the victor if you see beyond what is in front of you. As Thomas Paine said, "The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."
ReplyDeleteCamus's work inspires thinking in different ways and I think that is exactly what he achieves in this story. I think Camus wants us readers to imagine Sisyphus happy because he wants us to look at life from a different perspective. Normally, I would imagine Sisyphus's life as miserable and hopeless. This story and our class discussion made me see his life in a different way by imagining him accepting his punishment. If Sisyphus sees his life like a never-ending punishment, he will never be happy. If he accepts his new life and realizes it will never change, he can be happy instead of being miserable. On the upside, he will become pretty muscular.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, one can say Sisyphus was entitled to a life of agonizing torture because of the way he presented himself, but to others he was a man of courage for understanding his purpose in life and viewing pessimism as optimism. Sisyphus viewed his "punishment" as a reward rather than something tantalizing and dehumanizing; basically he programmed his brain to think that it was a gift to stay on earth again, but under the condition of him suffering the certain stupidity of pushing a boulder up a hill and watching it simply fall back down for him to start over. Personally, I do think Sisyphus is in someway a hero because he took his fate as it was given to him, no questions asked.
ReplyDeleteWhat was meant to be as a punishment to Sisyphus, turned out to be something other than torture for him. That rock that he pushed up and then watched roll down, only to do it again, represented his fate. His fate is something that he controlled. He chose to stay on earth and enjoy it's many wonders. At first this story was kind of confusing to me, but by the end of class, i realized that Sisyphus is stronger than that rock. He accepted his punishment because he knows he did wrong. The fact that he "put death in chains" and had a hatred for death is really powerful. If i could chain death so i would never die, i would do it in a heart beat. He had originally went back to earth to "chastise" his wife but when he got there, he wanted to stay. He uses his moments on earth where he was happy, to help him keep going. By accepting his faith, and having control over it, he is not being tortured. The last sentence "One must imagine Sisyphus happy" brings many thoughts because how can you imagine that someone who is pushing a heavy rock up and then watching it roll back down only to do it again, happy? Reading it the first time, i was like what? how can he be happy? But having the discussion in class made me open my eyes and realize that he has control over his fate.
ReplyDeleteCamus is asking us to think differently about Sisyphus' eternal punishment because he is trying to prove a point that once you are aware of your fate, it is then you can actually be happy. Sisyphus was aware that this is what the rest of his life would be like, so he knew that he could choose to either be miserable for the rest of his life or accept that this was now his new life and be happy with it. I do believe that Sisyphus is a hero because as Camus said, "he is superior to his fate." Sisyphus was able to conquer the idea that there is no hope in his eternal miserable life, and for that, he is a hero.
ReplyDeleteCamus' interest in the philosophy of existentialism shows heavily in this text by making us, the readers, think about how even when being punished and damned, one can still be a hero. Sisyphus on his crazy adventures of basically going to hell and back, in addition to chaining up Death, show that he has the potential of being god-like. But since he is caught by the actual Gods and sent to roll a rock up a hill and watch his progress go back down, it's hard to see that he could be a hero. But Camus portrays him as the absurd hero, a man stronger than the boulder he is burdened with. Or is he? When Sisyphus comes to realize that all his life is going to be is rolling a rock up a mountain, he can be happy knowing that he has reached a purpose in his life. On the third page, it says that "An absurd man says yes and his efforts will henceforth be unceasing...he knows himself to be the master of his days." Sisyphus has mastered his days, all he has to do is keep on rolling.
ReplyDeleteCamus' existentialism style of writing, "absurd literature", helps the reader to gain a much deeper understanding of the story. A major aspect of Sisyphus being a hero, is due to his consciousness. He is conscious that life has no meaning and is aware of his fate of forever pushing a boulder up a hill to merely watch it tumble down. As discussed in class, since Sisyphus has resigned to his fate, he has accepted it. Sisyphus is a hero; he recognizes the struggle of life is unchangeable and that there is no hope to change this. Since he has made the decision to acknowledge this, Camus asks the reader to imagine that he has also made the decision to be happy and have a positive outlook, as his fate is irreversible. He is happy in his understanding.
ReplyDeleteThe way Camus writes is interesting, he develops a fundamentally tragic theme only giving us small glimpses of hope in discrete lines throughout the story. When he has the reader convinced Sisyphus is miserable and there is no worse punishment, he shatters our perspective of Sisyphus' punishment with five words. "We must imagine Sisyphus happy." The ending of the story is a perfect contradiction to the mood being built up throughout it. Discrete lines such as "At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks towards the lairs of the Gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock" suddenly come together and make sense. Its only after the last line that you realize the little glimpses of hope are all tied together, and Sisyphus the absurd hero has actually overcome his fate and is not suffering.
ReplyDeleteCamus writes in a very interesting way that enables the reader to think deeper than the words on the page. Sisyphus has to live with this punishment for the rest of his life and of course it seems terrible, however; he finds happiness through what his life has become. He does not let this situation over take him and make him miserable, he is stronger than the rock. The negativity that his life is now filled with has been turned into positivity when Sisyphus became "stronger than the rock." He knows that this is his punishment and his acceptance of that portrays characteristics of someone who is optimistic. The authors way of writing can tend to be confusing at times but if you look one step deeper into what he is really trying to say, you understand the true meaning. The hope that he represents at the end enables readers to truly have a connection with the overall understand and theme of the story.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Camus is saying that those who can cope with their current situations and learn to accept things are able to live a happier life. When someone accepts their fate or destiny and instead of complaining or trying to change it they learn to make the best of it, I believe this is when they can learn to be happy. Sisyphus is indeed a hero because he has learned to cope with his current situation. Though to us on the outside this situation looks bleak and dreadful, to Sisyphus this is just his life. He realizes that he will be pushing this rock up the hill and watching it fall for most likely the rest of his existence, so he knows he needs to figure out a way to cope. Since he has become accustomed to it, he can now move on and learn to be happy. The fact that he is able to do this makes him a hero in my opinion, at least in the "absurd" sense of the word. This story is critical in showing us that we can be happy no matter what. We just have to learn to accept.
ReplyDeleteCamus writes in a way that makes you think twice about what you just read. The suggestion that Sisyphus might even be happy with his punishment seems ridiculous but as you look deeper into the story and what Camus is trying to tell us, it becomes believable. The very moment he gets to the top of the hill with the rock, he is conscious of the fact that there is nothing more to life. He's unable to compare this dreadful life with anything else because there's nothing out there for him. Sisyphus' punishment is no longer torture once he accepts his fate and is aware of the absurdity. He is truly a hero because he is able to overcome this punishment and accepts life for what it is. Sisyphus conquers his eternal life and therefore, he is a happy man.
ReplyDeleteCamus' fascination with philosophy gives us a different perspective of the story of Sisyphus. Anyone reading this excerpt for the first time, would have trouble figuring out; why is he a hero? How is he happy? Camus gives us a deeper understanding of the story. He enables us to view Sisyphus as a happy individual because he has found a meaning in his life. Even though, Sisyphus has to deal with a harsh punishment for the rest of his life; he knows his fate and instead of it burdening him, he accepts it.
ReplyDeleteCamus has a very interesting take on life. Upon reading his story I believe that without misery, there can be no happiness. They go hand in hand as Camus wrote. Despite all the bad and suffering, there's good that comes from it. It reminds me of my job, it is long and tedious, I was to go everyday and work for what felt like hours on end. However, at the end of the week I received a reward that justified or makes the long, tedious days worth the work. Sisyphus misery is to roll the rock up a hill but his reward is finally reaching the top. The hard work that is done feels fulfilled and completed, which can be a very satisfying feeling. I agree with Camus' idea of Existentialsm.
ReplyDeleteCamus’ point of view on life is quite different from others. Most people have a belief that there is a purpose or reason for life, but he is different. Camus, like his characters, believes life has no meaning aside from the one the person living that life gives it. When I read it for the first time, I was so confused. Honestly why would anyone be happy pushing a boulder up and down a hill for the rest of his or her life? It did not make any sense. When I thought about it however, I realized that if there is no other happiness that a person knows, then even the most tedious tasks can be happiness. I believe Sisyphus is a hero because he was able to adjust to his situation without too much complaining. He did try to escape once, but when he realized this would be the rest of his life, he learned to put up with it and be happy. I believe he is already happy because as of now he really does not know any other happiness. Sisyphus was also strong enough to accept his future, which was not a bright one, making him a hero.
ReplyDeleteI think that what Camus tries to say in his essay is that we will never know the true meaning in life and that it is also impossible to find. Camus writes about the absurd hero. The absurd hero knows that life is a struggle and there is no hope. I don't think that his life is painful because he knows what he has to do, and he knows that there isn't anything else out there for him. He doesn't have to hope for more and be let down. Sisyphus knows that he has to push the boulder up the hill and that once the boulder rolls down, he has to push it back up. Sisyphus knows that there is nothing else out there for him. So at the end when Camus writes that "One must imagine Sisyphus happy," he's basically saying we should think of him as happy because he knows his fate and there will be no obstacles or troubles, there is nothing better known other than the boulder. Sisyphus is happy because he's accepted that he has to roll a boulder up a hill and let it go then roll it back up. Sisyphus is accepting his life.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Camus was trying to show us how to view life from another perspective. To us, Sisyphus seemed to be in misery because what he did every day, rolling a boulder up a mountain to watch it just fall back down. We knew the many things he could've done in his life. We knew of his full potentials, he was "the wisest and the most prudent of mortals". Sispyhus probably knew from right to wrong, and how he was punished to the underworld was probably "the right decision" he made in his mind. It was his own concious thought that lead him to go there. Pushing the boulder up the mountain is something that he accepted because that, in his mind, is the best thing he can do in his life. To him, he reached his full potential and ended up where he was supposed to. He accepted that fact that his life was just rolling up a boulder and it didnt bother him. "For the rest, he knows himself to be the master of his days."
ReplyDeleteI think it is more of the optimism of the story that should be look at to live happy no matter what the circumstances. As you said in class we all start at an empty slate and life is what you make of it. We give life meaning, other wise life is meaningless. Pushing the boulder up and down the mountain is agonizing from our perspective. But from his perspective, it's all he knows and all he will know for the rest of his life. In my personal opinion anyone that can defeat any type of obstacle and come out in the positive light is definitely a hero.
ReplyDeleteThe story is based around the idea of an absurd hero. Despite being forced to continually carry out the same menial task he is embracing life. In a sense he is also a tragic hero by accepting the circumstances of his struggle. He realizes that by pushing the rock up the hill and letting it down he never truly completes the task. In the sense of incompletion lies his emotional torment. He never fathoms that he truly succeeds since he lets the rock back down, he could easily beat his punishment by carrying the rock up the hill, let it go down and not do it again on the basis of knowing he is capable of doing it. At the same time he is a hero because he still has a sense of independence and freedom which he does not realize. He elects to continue to roll the rock up and down the hill. The aim of the myth is to reevaluate the human condition. Is life truly worth living if we fight the same struggles and can not overcome them. Despite how far we as a society may have come we still face many of the same problems from the old world. In conclusion the myth can be seen as a metaphor for the human condition and social progress.
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