Preview

Essay: Behind The Myth Of Sisyphus

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1805 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay: Behind The Myth Of Sisyphus
Professor D’Anca
English 102
4 December 2013
Behind the Myth of Sisyphus

The philosophical essay of “The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus was written in France, in 1942. Obviously during a very historical time of war in which had a lot of people on the edge. The piece of work written was motivated by what Camus thought about the situation during the time; such as suicide, absurdity and happiness. The meaning of life was defined in many different ways, and with that being said Camus had seen so much that he had different values and searched for the truth about life and its purpose, plus what motivated a modest philosopher. Society took this essay as something very absurd and really didn’t know how to react to it but wonder how meaningful is life and what is to be valued and what shouldn’t be. People were on the edge just thinking about these kind of things. Especially during
…show more content…
“Like Sisyphus, we are our fate, and our frustration is our very life: we can never escape it.” (Satre) As a society that’s why we all must accept the truth in life and that is our fate as well. No matter if it has value, you must continue living, committing suicide is not the answer and by doing so you will prove to others that there can be meaningless lives. You can’t escape it and you can’t be absurd in Camus’s philosophy either. Camus even detects a level of absurdity in Nietzsche’s philosophy as well. Truth is that Camus is absurd, maybe he is searching for meaning of life so much that it becomes irrational. Which in that case leads to him believing about suicide but knew he was never even going to find meaning that way at all. He would be never be able to tell how valuable life is. Therefore, Camus must be happy about life and its meaning so he can actually live life as it is. The only problem philosophers have is that they can never admit that absurdity in their thoughts, so they make a reason and figure out a way out of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When the baritones of cannon barrages, melodies of muskets and the sound of the rebel cry had finally subsided, The American Civil War had had already taken a deadly toll. Four years of gruesome fighting had decimated the population. Half a million of three million men had been wounded in combat. Over two hundred thousand others had been killed. Frontal assaults turned into suicidal dashes that resulted in victory for no man.…

    • 2152 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dead Poet’s Society is able to perfectly encapsulate Transcendentalist ideas by showing the transition of the Welton Prep boys. All their life, these boys are used to following strict orders from their parents and doing exactly as they are told. They would never in the life dream of going against their parent’s wishes. This film is able to show how just a little push in the right direction can immediately trigger social progress. These boys were able to learn from their teacher, Mr. Keating that it is okay to be your own person and express disapproval towards your parents. Once the boys finally realize that Mr.Keating is right and they should be the one’s in control, they are able to stand up for themselves and break out of the shell they have been living in for all of their…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey is one of the most famous ancient Greek epic poems written by Homer. It tells an adventure and struggle of the main character, Odysseus, trying to get back home to Ithaca from Troy. In this epic, Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero. However, in my opinion, he is not a hero because he received too much help from the Gods, did not protect his men, and was selfish at times.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the poem, “Theme for English B”, Langston Hughes demonstrates how the speaker feels about this English B paper assignment. He puts you in his conscious and has you go through his thoughts to give you a sense of what he is feeling like in this classroom being the only colored student in a class full of white students. The speaker is told to write a paper about himself. When that paper gets assigned, he is stumped. He took in consideration that he is the only colored student in his entire class. For him that was very shocking, coming from towns that had a colored community. The racial tension made coming to school a challenge. When he starts to brainstorm ideas, he realizes that he is like the other students around him after all. For example, he brainstorms how both him and the other students would be ecstatic to share about their new record they got. Being a new student at a new school can be terrifying. The speaker of this essay was at first, but then he came to realize the things that made everyone in that classroom similar. He started connecting with those around him, realizing that he was just like everyone else. All any new student wants coming into a new school is to fit in, and he found his way of doing just…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Judgment of the death penalty is both express also verifiable in as much compositions. For example, in the stranger Meursault’s long restriction throughout as much trial what's more as much consequent execution would introduced Concerning illustration and only an elaborate, stately custom move directing, including both general population Furthermore religious powers. The grim reasonability about this procedure about legalized homicide contrasts markedly with those sudden, irrational, very nearly unintentional way for as much genuine wrongdoing. Similarly, in the myth from claiming Sisyphus, the would-be suicide aerial attacker will be contrasted for as much deadly mishap opposite, the man censured with death, also we would continually reminded that a sentence for demise may be our basic destiny for a absurd universe. The existentialism inside as much meets expectations shapes as much characters, by…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus As A Hero Essay

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the Odyssey, we are introduced to odysseus as a battle hero. Nowadays when you hear of a soldier or general, most people think of a hard muscley guy that shows little feelings. That is accurate to who odysseus was right after the long battle of Troy. What changed him from that to a wise more caring and clever man was the journey home and the obstacles it contained.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Essay

    • 511 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In order to be a good leader you must have good traits, but sometimes they might have some flaws. Such as Odysseus, even though Odysseus is a good leader and has good characteristics he does have some flaws in which I’m going to explain you.…

    • 511 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both Nietzsche's "The Madman" and Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" have absurdist elements. While "The Madman" deals mainly with a man who professes that "God is dead" and the effects of that death to a group of people, "The Myth of Sisyphus" entails an analysis of the effects of a man forced to roll a rock up a mountain and watch it roll back down for eternity. Throughout their texts, both authors make the argument that despite life being meaningless, we must continue to search for meaning. However, the authors' arguments diverge when it comes to the matter of what is needed to live out a meaningful existence; while Nietzsche believes that we need some illusion, such as a God, to embrace the absurd, Camus believes that we must reject such illusions…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This society is so comfortable of telling anyone and everyone their personal business. As readers we need to learn to stray from the lies and conception. Franzen really has a point when he say, “Is the essay becoming an endangered species” (xvi). The author knows of what has become in the world today. From the real essays that come out of a journal to the ones on social media trending on nonsense and senselessness. Jonathan Franzen truly grasps the meaning of what a legitamically essay should look…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Vetting System

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In February 19, 1942 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the internment of of tens of thousands of Japanese American citizens. The constitutionality of which was questioned by every level of the courts. The federal and supreme courts involvement in cases such as Hirabayashi, Korematsu and ex parte Mitsuye Endo swayed and sometimes contradicted the constitution that birthed our nation. In our modern day, we are faced with a similar circumstance. Our 45th President, Donald J Trump campaigned on the promise of a travel ban that would halt the immigration of seven dominantly muslim countries for six months in order to form a proper vetting system for the refugees leaving the terrorism plagued sector…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beowulf, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter are all extraordinary heroes but what makes their tale even better is their journey that turns them into an epic hero, distinguishing them from normal everyday heroes. An epic hero is someone who goes on a dangerous journey, has help from supernatural forces in a mystical realm, almost gives up because of the great tribulations they face, but persevere on and reach a point of rebirth and restituting. The tale of Odysseus in The Odyssey by Homer, is considered an epic but the hero of this story is still undefined. Though some may argue that Odysseus is the epic hero, his lack of ability to escape challenges on his own and the absence of his abyss stage because of his eagerness to return to Ithaca, he is not a true epic hero.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The syllabus of this AP English class also required several essays that were not bound to literary analysis. For example, the final essay I wrote for this class was a research paper; the prompt was broad – the paper was to be written about a group invisible to the American public. I decided to write about the plight of homeless people all over the country; once again, I was tasked with researching on my own and developing my own thesis, which improved my academic writing skills. In addition, this writing task was the one that motivated me to pursue a career as a journalist. It was a rewarding experience to reveal untold stories of people undergoing daily hardships and discrimination; I hope to continue writing about such important issues in the future to contribute to…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet's Second Soliloquy

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the soliloquies, Hamlet discovers that the meaning of life is to fulfill the destiny that he acquired. Hamlet does this through questioning the scenery around him, and he compares the others to himself. Prince Hamlet comes to the conclusion that he’s fated to…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Myth-making was the world’s earliest form of literary story-telling. Specific to the ancient myths we have been discussing, a common theme has been man’s relationship with the gods, and the origins of suffering in humanity. We see this in the Hebrew Scriptures with Genesis, and in the two stories by Hesiod we have covered: “Work and Days,” and “Theogony.” During this time, many people had a pessimistic view of the world. This shows in these two works as they ponder questions such as: “are people good?”, “are we meant to be slaves to the gods?”, and “what happens when people do not do as the gods expect?” Through their answers these questions, we can formulate an idea of their views on humanity as a whole. For the most part, these views generally consist of a morbid outlook on life, consisting of working for the gods unconditionally, and accepting suffering as a part of…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Please note! This is not an example of text written by our writers! Essaypedia.com is a database of essays that were collected at open web…

    • 5222 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics