The Madman And The Myth Of Sisyphus
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
…show more content…
As shown through the madman's despair caused by the death of the "holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned", the existence of outside forces were crucial in Nietzsche's view. Now that "God remains dead," the madman is faced with the question of what that means for the people. He asks "what festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent" to fulfill the hole left by God's disappearance? The madman is desperate for something to fill the space because without it, humans are doomed. To the madman's dismay, the "deed [killing of God] is still distant [from the people]" and thus they are unable to take seriously the urgency of the situation. Contrastingly, Camus argues that in order to overcome the absurd, we must be indifferent to outside forces. This is ironic considering that Sisyphus' indifference to the gods led to him being faced with the absurd. Nevertheless, the rejection of outside forces "makes of fate a human matter, which must be settled among men." Sisyphus is endowed with the knowledge of the hopelessness of his situation to amplify his suffering yet "the lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory." Instead of giving into the idea that his suffering may be relieved by the gods, Sisyphus "knows himself to be the master of his days." He is in
As shown through the madman's despair caused by the death of the "holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned", the existence of outside forces were crucial in Nietzsche's view. Now that "God remains dead," the madman is faced with the question of what that means for the people. He asks "what festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent" to fulfill the hole left by God's disappearance? The madman is desperate for something to fill the space because without it, humans are doomed. To the madman's dismay, the "deed [killing of God] is still distant [from the people]" and thus they are unable to take seriously the urgency of the situation. Contrastingly, Camus argues that in order to overcome the absurd, we must be indifferent to outside forces. This is ironic considering that Sisyphus' indifference to the gods led to him being faced with the absurd. Nevertheless, the rejection of outside forces "makes of fate a human matter, which must be settled among men." Sisyphus is endowed with the knowledge of the hopelessness of his situation to amplify his suffering yet "the lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory." Instead of giving into the idea that his suffering may be relieved by the gods, Sisyphus "knows himself to be the master of his days." He is in