Mersaultphus

Camus describes Sisyphus as a happy. He says that Sisyphus is happy because he knows exactly what his fate is and he no longer has to worry about his life changing. Sisyphus is perfectly happy to push the rock up the hill over and over again.

Mersault, the Protagonist of Albert Camus's The Stranger, finds himself in a similar situation where he is imprisoned for a long period of time because of murder. Mersault reaches a similar mindset that Sisyphus found. He came to terms with his incarceration. At first Mersault is unhappy because he cannot smoke, be spontaneous, or even attempt to spread his seed. He realizes that these are terms of his imprisonment. He eventually adapts his mind to prison life and his days become less troublesome. Mersault comes to the realization that he knows exactly what his future is and that nothing will ever really surprise him.

Mersault finds peace in his prison just as Sisyphus did in his punishment.