existentialism/absurdism are slightly different but stem from the same place (stemmed from
2000 years of Christian thinking and a belief in a god)
- They both agree that there is no inherent meaningfulness to human existence
- They probably don’t believe in a god, so there is no greater meaning
- The difference is existentialists believe you can make meaning within life, but absurdists
say even if you do all that and make your life “meaningful”, it still has no meaning in the
end
Essay born out of the massive destruction of wwii (how can humans do this to each other if
there’s a god?)
Sisyphus was condemned to rolling a boulder up a hill for the rest of his life because he pissed
off the gods
Highwayman = robber on the highway
It doesn’t matter what version of the myth you believe - either Sisyphus was a wise, good
person or a robber, either way it doesn’t matter, it’s meaningless, because in an absurdist world,
morals go out the window
levity= he didn’’t care what the gods had to say, he took them lightly
Egina is kidnapped by the gods, Sisyphus found out and told the gods as a deal in exchange for
water (he prefers human empowerment in exchange for the gods)
Camus characterizes Sisyphus as clever, his willingness to be human, rebellious (idc about the
gods)
Sisyphus said to his wife “don’t bury me” so he doesn’t end up in the underworld, but she does
and he wakes up in the underworld. He’s pissed so he gets permission to go back to earth to
scold her. But then he realizes the love of life and chooses not to go back.
- He had to “die” to realize that he’s been taking these things (water, sun) for granted and
rediscovers his love for life
- Ties into the antisuicide message, because look at this guy who lost all these great
things, he came back and loved them
- You have to accept you’re gonna die one day in order to enjoy life
Sisyphus stayed on Earth for years before the Mercury dragged him back down to the
underworld and gave him a large rock
- Hates gods, hates death, his passion for life got him eternal punishment, so therefore it
doesn’t matter whether you like life or not, the result is the same: you will die and be
gone.
- If it all doesn’t matter, then why not do all the things that you want? Why not live as you
wished to have lived? It amounts to nothingness anyways, you’re still pushing the rock
up the hill by being alive
Changes from one sees all the bad stuff to I (Camus) imagine Sisyphus going back strong and
still persevering. Sisyphus pauses before he goes down and that interested Camus, which is
called the hour of consciousness where we question why we’re doing what we do
- We the readers need to change the way we think and focus on the positives of a
seemingly bad situation
- Sisyphus is a metaphor for all of us as being alive = pushing the rock
2000 years of Christian thinking and a belief in a god)
- They both agree that there is no inherent meaningfulness to human existence
- They probably don’t believe in a god, so there is no greater meaning
- The difference is existentialists believe you can make meaning within life, but absurdists
say even if you do all that and make your life “meaningful”, it still has no meaning in the
end
Essay born out of the massive destruction of wwii (how can humans do this to each other if
there’s a god?)
Sisyphus was condemned to rolling a boulder up a hill for the rest of his life because he pissed
off the gods
Highwayman = robber on the highway
It doesn’t matter what version of the myth you believe - either Sisyphus was a wise, good
person or a robber, either way it doesn’t matter, it’s meaningless, because in an absurdist world,
morals go out the window
levity= he didn’’t care what the gods had to say, he took them lightly
Egina is kidnapped by the gods, Sisyphus found out and told the gods as a deal in exchange for
water (he prefers human empowerment in exchange for the gods)
Camus characterizes Sisyphus as clever, his willingness to be human, rebellious (idc about the
gods)
Sisyphus said to his wife “don’t bury me” so he doesn’t end up in the underworld, but she does
and he wakes up in the underworld. He’s pissed so he gets permission to go back to earth to
scold her. But then he realizes the love of life and chooses not to go back.
- He had to “die” to realize that he’s been taking these things (water, sun) for granted and
rediscovers his love for life
- Ties into the antisuicide message, because look at this guy who lost all these great
things, he came back and loved them
- You have to accept you’re gonna die one day in order to enjoy life
Sisyphus stayed on Earth for years before the Mercury dragged him back down to the
underworld and gave him a large rock
- Hates gods, hates death, his passion for life got him eternal punishment, so therefore it
doesn’t matter whether you like life or not, the result is the same: you will die and be
gone.
- If it all doesn’t matter, then why not do all the things that you want? Why not live as you
wished to have lived? It amounts to nothingness anyways, you’re still pushing the rock
up the hill by being alive
Changes from one sees all the bad stuff to I (Camus) imagine Sisyphus going back strong and
still persevering. Sisyphus pauses before he goes down and that interested Camus, which is
called the hour of consciousness where we question why we’re doing what we do
- We the readers need to change the way we think and focus on the positives of a
seemingly bad situation
- Sisyphus is a metaphor for all of us as being alive = pushing the rock
