The Human Condition Does life ever seem pointless and discouraging? In Albert Camus’s “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Camus describes the correlation between Sisyphus’s fate and the human condition. In the selection, everyday is the same for Sisyphus. Sisyphus is condemned to rolling a rock up a mountain for eternity. Camus’s “The Myth of Sisyphus” forces one to contemplate Sisyphus’s fate, how it relates to the human condition, and how it makes the writer feel about her part in life. Camus states “if this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious” (Camus).
Condemned by the gods, Sisyphus does not acknowledge his fate until after the rock rolls back down the mountain and he begins his journey to retrieve it.
The gods believe that no punishment could be worse than “futile and hopeless labor” (Camus).
He spends all his time and energy in basically accomplishing nothing. So knowing this, why does he continue to push the rock? He only concedes his fate when he has time to think about his actions. Well, what is Sisyphus’s alternative? He only has the rock and the mountain. He can sit there and contemplate his fate for eternity or he can continue moving the rock.
Camus believes that Sisyphus’s fortune is similar to human life. Through all the activities and events people do throughout life, simply nothing is accomplished in the end. Sisyphus is a direct symbol of the human condition. He begins to take pride in pushing the rock up the mountain. If he views the fate dictated upon him as punishment, then he will only wallow in an already incurably bad situation.
The Essay on Meaning to Human Life
Is there any meaning to human life? After listening to the first two lectures I gathered what I felt to be Professor Amrbosio’s definitions of the hero and the saint. I took notes and after going back through and reading them it helped me to put a few things together. He asks the question about whether or not human existence is meaningful or absurd. We live in a hostile and deadly environment so ...
Instead, he starts to find meaning in his fate, starts to enjoy what he does, almost to take pride in his work, like a true laborer. Thus, Sisyphus is the “absurd hero,” because, like people he has a goal he believes that he can ultimately accomplish (Camus).
He, in his own small way spites the gods by taking delight in pushing this rock over and over again. How might one feel about this essay and her position in life? The writer feels as though life in essence is “futile and hopeless” (Camus).
For example, day after day the writer continually gets up and goes to school. Many will feel disheartened by another day of doing things he or she may not want to do.
Nevertheless, one would rather go to school and endure the “torture” of being in school than sitting at home for hours on end doing absolutely nothing or at a job she may not enjoy. Hence, why students welcome the summer, but after a few weeks they yearn to be in school again or why the depressed are depressed. The writer is no different. One is happiest when there are responsibilities to fill one’s day rather than a day without promise.
Life can seem futile and hopeless. However, it only seems that way to people who don’t take pleasure in what they do. Sisyphus realizes that if he just sat around all day instead of pushing that rock, he would never be happy. Just like Sisyphus people find happiness in what they do.
People get up everyday and do what they must do. They keep rolling their metaphorical rock up the mountain. By persisting in what he or she does, for a moment no matter how brief, there in lies happiness in the accomplishments made. As Camus leaves Sisyphus at the base of the mountain, the writer leaves herself there also, until tomorrow, whence she will again begin pushing her rock up the mountain.
Works Cited Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. 1996. Katharina Eiermann. Retrieved 11 Feb.
2005.
