The Circle of Life (and Camus)

“Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition” (Camus 3).

Okay perhaps this is a stretch but bear with me here. I’m going to take us back to Benjamin and then go full circle.

Benjamin talked about two major concepts: binaries and mutual recognition. I believe that our discussion of what gives life meaning today in class, Camus’ theory of Sisyphus, and Meursault of The Stranger himself all tie back to mutual recognition, particularly self-recognition, and a key binary: authority versus the individual. As an initial clarification, the authority in this binary is not necessarily a government or physical entity, but rather some higher power enacting conditions on an individual’s fate.

Today during class, we reached the conclusion that what gives life meaning is life itself. This, to me, refers to the actions we make as individuals; everyone has a responsibility for anything they do that causes any sort of change, be it seemingly insignificant and temporary such as planting a flower, or one with more weight. It’s those actions, generally speaking, that give our lives any sort of meaning. How we live our lives and value what we do results in the meaning we believe our lives possess.

A counterexample to that kind of thinking is Meursault. He chooses to ignore his own actions, for the most part, and act purely on physical desire; anything that ties him to an action that would spur a change, significant or otherwise, he avoids like the plague. Marriage? Love? Job opportunities? All useless agents of change that he treats with a cavalier wave of his hand. The only catalyst that sparks any wavering in his existentialist lifestyle is death, which is a rather inevitable cause of change. He follows a general philosophy that “[t]o stay or to go, it amounted to the same thing” (57). Refusing change is Meursault’s way of avoiding individualism altogether, but removing his life of meaning.

Which leads to Camus’ philosophy of Sisyphus, the poor mythological rock-pusher. Most would think his incessant task of pushing a rock up a hill repeatedly for eternity would be a punishment, but Camus, among other points, argues that Sisyphus is happy because he is aware of himself and his past experiences, as well as his contribution to his own fate. He may be pushing the rock, but he is pushing the rock because of his own actions, not because the gods have put him there. This turns his fate into not a punishment, but a choice, where he has triumphed.

He has triumphed over the authority versus individual binary by utilizing self-recognition.

It’s really a matter of perception, of thinking about one’s own life in terms of oneself instead of in terms of being a subject, but it’s enough to allow him freedom from one of the most difficult binaries there is. The gods did not choose his fate; he did, and he recognizes that he did via his own actions. This agency is essential in the escape from the binary and the possession of meaning in life.

Our in-class discussion concluded that actions, in other words, the agency of the individual, give life meaning. Sisyphus’ life, although seemingly the most pointless struggle known to man or god, has meaning. All lives have meaning, but in order to escape the binary and realize it, we must recognize ourselves as agents of change for our own lives. Sisyphus succeeded; Meursault has found a cheap way out. He chooses to completely avoid the binary altogether by not even attempting to be an individual. The only agent of change brought on by whatever higher power life brings that can force him into the mercy of the authority portion of the binary is death, but other than that Meursault has managed to avoid acknowledging any consequences or effects of his actions whatsoever. Denying change gives no reason to contemplate a cause for said change, leaving the authority and the individual obliterated from any significance, thus eliminating the binary.

As for us, well, we will have to abide by Benjamin’s philosophy and struggle to see ourselves as individuals, realize our own agency and give our lives meaning, and break free of the authority grip of the binary. Unless being like Meursault seems like a good idea, but I would wait until we find out his fate in Part 2 of the book before choosing his path.