Happiness Is Not a Pursuit

Happiness is Not a Pursuit

Albert Camus presents an unorthodox and absurdist approach towards analyzing "The Myth of Sisyphus". He deems Sisyphus as an absurdist hero in an attempt to convey an absurdist philosophy of life. The myth entails an idea that life ultimately has no meaning, and in order to achieve happiness in life we must accept the meaningless of life. If we are devoid of hope to achieve something preferable compared to our current position in life, then we will live in pleasure. If we accept in the end, that there is no preferable meaning of life that is to be attained, then we can accept our fate without grief.

Camus utilizes an intricate and powerful metaphor of the punishment Sisyphus faces to symbolize our daily struggle in life. Sisyphus is doomed to struggle in vain for the rest of his life, as soon as the rock is pushed up to the top of the mountain, he looks down at the rock and realizes that that his toil is eternal. This is essentially an example of being aware of the absurdity of your position; similarly we will all face an inevitable death which consequently implies that there is no final meaning to life.

The major impetus to our dissatisfaction in life is hope; Sisyphus is above his own fate because he accepts it, he knows as he watches the rock roll back down the hill that he has no hope for a preferable life and therefore must make the most of what he has. The only way we can appreciate life is to make the future and the past of no importance to us. We must accept that our current life is the only life we have in order to avoid disappointment. If we are to possess hope for a meaning in life then our daily lives will seem futile and dissatisfactory, if Sisyphus is aware and hopes to allude to a preferable fate then his punishment