The Absurd Myth of Sisyphus

     The central idea of The Myth of Sisyphus is what Camus refers to as "the absurd". Facing the absurd of caring the rock up the hill over and over again is struggling with it, Camus claims. He also claims, the absurd can not be avoided and you can not make peace with it, and if you do then it is an attempt to escape from it. Instead by living with the absurd, Camus suggests, is a matter of maintaining constant awareness of it. Sisyphus is the ideal absurd hero to Camus because his situation is typical to the human condition. The human condition of struggling consistently without hope of success. As long as Sisyphus contains awareness and accepts that there is nothing more to life then his absurd struggle then he can find happiness in it, I suppose he is trying to say. Camus describes, "There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night"(20). Which in turn means there is no happiness without the struggle of absurdness. Sisyphus must know the absurd struggle of pushing the rock up the hill before he knows the happiness of actually achieving his goal of getting it up there. As relating back to humans we must live a life of struggle before we can live a life of happiness.
     If I am understanding what Camus is trying to say correctly then I supposed I do agree with what he is saying. Humans work everyday at the same task and their fate is no less absurd than Sisyphus. Everyday when we get up to start a new day it's like Sisyphus walking down to push the rock up the hill again. It's the same struggle of getting out of bed everyday and going to school or work but as long as we are aware of it and embrace the struggle then we can find some happiness in it. We can look forward to an end goal that is worth all the struggle. My coach is always telling me you have to be ready to eat a pain sandwich or sometimes you have to be willing to bite the bullet. Because in the end or through it all you will find some happiness in it, as Camus suggests. I suppose that you could have happiness without struggle but I doubt there are many humans like that.