![]() ![]() Some people, despairing life’s futility, kill themselves others explore the deserts of meaninglessness, trying fully to understand absurdity. If life is too absurd to matter, one question remains-whether to commit suicide. ![]() Part 1, “An Absurd Reasoning,” posits that there is only one truly important philosophical problem: whether life is worth living. The Myth of Sisyphus contains five parts, including three extended essays on absurdity, a short piece on Sisyphus as a tragic hero of the meaningless, and an appendix that critiques Franz Kafka’s Existential novels. He criticized existentialists for peering into the abyss of life’s emptiness and backing away in fear, believing it better to stare at absurdity unblinkingly and defiantly. Though he deserves acclaim as a representative of existentialism, a philosophy that grapples with life’s meaninglessness, Camus rejected that term and instead called himself an absurdist. The tragic Greek figure Sisyphus-a rebel whom the gods punish by forcing him to push a boulder up a mountain only to watch it fall back down, over and over forever-symbolizes the absurd human condition. ![]() The huge gap between that craving and life’s actual sterility is an absurd condition that can’t be pushed aside but must be faced squarely. GradeSaver, 27 July 2019 Web.The book’s premise is that humans yearn deeply for something they can never have: the certainty that life is worthwhile and meaningful. Next Section The Myth of Sisyphus Summary How To Cite in MLA Format Tabor, Mason, Ushasree Mishra. Will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback. You can help us out by revising, improving and updatingĪfter you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. Hence, it is a process which has no utility and will bear no fruit, and so the task is regarded to be absurd or meaningless. Sisyphus is punished to do the task till eternity and beyond. ![]() The theme of absurdity in the play is mainly shown in the punishment section of Sisyphus where he is asked to roll a huge piece of rock to the top of a mountain and in reverse the rock rolls down back to the ground. The Myth of Sisyphus also gave the concept of the "Theatre of Absurdity" to the genre of literature. Camus teaches about bravery and resilience even in the bleak hopelessness of human existence. His Absurd Hero is a unique take on Nietzsche's "ubermensch" and anti-heroic arguments. Through his arguments, Camus rightful assumes his place in post-modernism as the father of Absurdism and a brilliant defender of Existentialism. Camus' views are so absolutely hopeless that he even criticizes Franz Kafka, another writer in the genre, for his allowing hope to creep in through the crevices of his short stories. Through this allegory, Camus raises questions about love and the purpose of romance, religion and the afterlife, work and toil, essence, meaning, purpose, design-all within a bleak, hopeless narrative about human life. He does this every day in the darkness of the underworld, seperated from the natural world which provided him comfort and solice. He tells the story in a way that is relatable to his argument, in that he frames Sisyphus' main struggle to be against the hopelessness of his situation, namely that he is forced to push a stone up a hill just to watch it roll back down again. The Greek account of Sisyphus is found in Homer and other ancient writers, but Camus retells the story highlighting a certain narrative. One who lives bravely despite the hopelessness of his condition is what Camus defines in this work as an absurd hero. His argument within his existential worldview is that man can learn the truth about the meaninglessness of life, or its absurdity, and still lead a brave, rewarding life in spite of that fact. That is, Camus argues that life has no inherent goal or aim, no validating quality in its function. The book is a philosophical essay in four parts, "An Absurd Reasoning," "The Absurd Man," "Absurd Creation," and "The Myth of Sisyphus." Arguments in the work are mainly existential, meaning that they deal with the meaning of life in the context of a nihilistic or else atheistic worldview. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Īlbert Camus published The Myth of Sisyphus in 1942 in French which was translated first into English by Just O'Brien in 1955. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. ![]()
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