Sisyphus Happiness

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus in his novel The Stranger is what he calls “the absurd”. The essay mainly focuses on the idea that there is a conflict between what we want from the universe and what we find in it. Camus ponders with the idea of the meaning of life. In an attempt to figure out he comes up with three theories: we will never find the meaning we are looking for, second that life has no meaning and third that we need to accept a world without meaning. He asks the question , if life has no meaning if it is even worth living. He follows this with the idea with this being the main reason for people committing suicide, since there is no meaning to life. An attempt to contradict this theory, he claims is an attempt to get away from it. He also includes the ancient Greek myth of the man who for eternity must push a boulder up a hill and must watch it roll back down every time. Many claim that he must be the unhappiest man but Camus contradicts with this idea and says he must be the happiest man alive. Camus says this because he thinks as long as he accepts the fact that life is nothing but struggle, he can come to peace with his fate. Altogether, Camus’ essay is an explanation that we constantly need to keep the idea of the absurd in our minds at all times and not to consider it a bad thing, that it is the reason behind suicide, but that it is a good things and that it allows us to live life to its fullest.

In my opinion, in The Myth of Sisyphus Camus’ theory of the absurd makes a lot of sense. I agree with his idea of life being meaningless but still having a reason to exist. This concept is a refreshing new idea because it differs from other theories that religion and faith is the meaning of life or that science can explain the reasoning behind life. The meaning of life is is life itself, meaning that other than living there is no reason for us to be here, which in turn encompasses everything that life includes.