Absurdity Is An Understanding Of Life As A Constant Struggle With No Hope

Over several years there has been a debate as to whether Camus’s character Meursault is an existentialist or an absurdist. He shows many characteristics of each. For example, Meursault relates to an existentialist in the way of not believing in a higher power and that there is nothing after physical existence. Additionally, Meursault also relates to an absurdist by believing that the world will always be indifferent towards him. One could even argue that Meursault is both an existentialist and an absurdist, because the absurdist personality was formed by the Europeans from the existentialist personality. Albert Camus was the first one to show both of these personalities to people. Camus tries to show readers that Meursault is not a normal. His view on the world is very abnormal.

Camus' philosophy is an amalgam of existentialism and humanism. An atheist, Camus did not believe that death, suffering, and human existence had any intrinsic moral or rational meaning. Because he did not believe in God or an afterlife, Camus held that human beings, as mortals, live under an inexplicable, irrational, completely absurd death sentence. Nevertheless, Camus did believe that people are capable of giving their lives meaning. The most meaningful action within the context of Camus' philosophy is to choose to fight death and suffering.

Religion and existentialism, two sides of two very distinct worlds, different yet both tightly intertwined. Albert Camus illustrates this parallel in his novel “The Stranger” where the narrator, Meursault, the stranger, an indifferent man devoid of any concerns both socially and emotionally is Camus’s vessel of existentialism. Breaking from character, Meursault, ironically attacks the chaplain, another stranger such as himself. Meursault’s final act leads to the solidification of his existentialist behavior through symbolic representation of God, breaking free from society’s force of religion, revolting against any form of hope and accepting the absurdity of life.

The existentialism of Albert Camus is based on his view of life as the Absurd. This sense of the Absurd derives from the realization that man is destined to die, as if being punished for a crime he never committed. There is no reprieve, and this makes life absurd (Peyre). There is no God in Camus’s conception, and those who hope for an afterlife are thus to be disappointed. Camus understood that the fact that there is no God also means that there is no meaning or purpose to life outside of living life to the fullest, and that there is a destined end. The one saving grace in the world seems to be the fact that while there is no God on which man can depend, man can live as if he can depend on his fellow man, even though he and they will all die (Sprintzen). This is another absurdity, but it is based on the fact that the

The core idea of Albert Camus’ philosophy of absurdity centralizes upon the idea that humans exist in a meaningless universe, and follows that humans must simply accept this fact to live life to the fullest. In addition to this absurdist notion, Albert Camus also uses The Stranger to show how humans still strive to create superficial meaning to fulfill their own personal needs. Through the experiences and interactions in Meursault’s life, Camus illustrates that in spite of how events in life follow no rational order, society attempts to futilely create meaning to explain human existence.

Camus who identified and developed absurdism, a philosophy at the basic holds that the universe is absurd and meaningless. There is no God or supreme power, and the humans are doomed to suffer and die. Due to this situation, humans have three options in life: to commit suicide, to make a “leap of faiut” and believe God, or to accept the Absurd and create one’s meaning in life. In The Plague, Camus presents the confined town as the universe, and the characters who behave differently to present the different ways humans deal with Absurd, which is the plague. In the novel, character Cottard attempt for suicide, and later working with the epidemic, helping on others suffering, is one of the option to live life as (40-41).

The theme of absurdity can be seen through three different lenses in The Stranger, by Albert Camus: life, decisions, and reflection. The first lens in which the reader can see absurdity in the novel is when the protagonist lives for the sensual pleasures of the present moment. The second lens in which the reader can see absurdity in the novel is when the protagonist absurdity of the protagonists decisions on how he does or doesn’t decide to kill the Arab. The third lens in which the reader can see absurdity in the novel is when the protagonist how he reflects back on his decisions and life and concludes that life means nothing between birth and death. The changes in the lenses of Meursault ‘s absurdum are projected through the author’s choice of different language.

Camus explanations of the Myth of Sisyphus, presented the concept of the absurd by outlining the beliefs that an individuals life has worth but only his live in a world that denies such worth to survive. Therefore, the absurdity in the statement, explains the fact of a clash between the orders through which an individuals mind hard for, likewise the lack of order that we as humans find in the world.

Philosophically speaking, I’m not terribly knowledgeable. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that Lesione already has me self-aware enough to note that hole in my higher reasoning skills. At the same time, I’m not convinced that even if I did have a strong grasp on philosophy that I’d know what it is Camus is going on about. The texts starts off well enough, with Camus highlighting several details and variations on Sisyphus’ life and crimes against the gods that I’ve never read before or realized even existed. Using the mythos he previously describes, Camus then applies the absurdist viewpoint to Sisyphus’ actions and punishment fairly reasonably. Unfortunately, it's after Camus

Camus’s belief, as exemplified in the The Stranger, is that human life has no redeeming purpose. The only certainty in life is that eventually all human beings will die and therefore all lives are all equally meaningless.

Camus also plays directly into one of the prominent ideas of the “theater of the absurd” as Meursault believes that life is ultimately meaningless, we simply go travel through it and the only concrete thing is death. Death is humanity’s final destination as Camus wrote, “ ‘If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.’ She was right. There was no way out” (pg 17).

Camus states “His rock is his thing. Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates his torment, silences all the idols... The absurd man says yes and his effort will henceforth be unceasing” (Camus). Meaning Sisyphus is a ridiculous man to look at the rock everyday and think i'm gonna push this rock up this hill even though I will never accomplish anything.

It is common for people to question the meaning of man’s existence or to seek answers about the relationship of man and the universe. This is the topic that Albert Camus favored when creating his novels, plays, and essays. Camus was known for his philosophical view of absurdism and included it in many of his works such as The Stranger. He felt that life had no order or purpose and that there was something absurd about the human quest to find meaning. The existentialist writer, Albert Camus, was struck by poverty, loss, and illness, but went on to contribute to moral philosophy issues during the harsh times of World War II.

Albert Camus is a famous writer who discusses a wide variety of topics in his works. His account of the myth of Sisyphus touches on a topic that most writers are either afraid of or unwilling to talk about. This is the issue of suicide and how to deal with it as an individual and as a community. The principal point in the story by Camus is the presence of absurdity in our very existence. The presence of life and all living things that we are aware of is an absurdity according to Camus, who questions the plausibility of some people considering suicide to be the best solution to this absurdity. Having an understanding of the elements of nature that make up our world does not mean that it will ever be possible to understand—and fully appreciate—the reasons why our world is as it is. Whether one believes in God and the creation account, in the evolution process or in the Big Bang Theory among others is irrelevant because of the underlying absurdity to all of these scenarios (Camus 3). He writes that it was his intention to find the relationship between suicide and the absurd. This essay by Camus leads the reader to make an assessment of life and arrive at a suitable decision. This paper will provide a further understanding of these thoughts. This paper will show that life is simply meaningless but must be appreciated nonetheless.

Camus’s separate work, The Myth of Sisyphus, includes imagery that provides an extended metaphor for this idea. The character Sisyphus begins to roll a boulder to the top of a mountain and upon reaching the summit, the boulder rolls back down. Sisyphus’s repetitive actions symbolize man’s constant need for an answer to the purpose of life, and as the boulder rolls back it acts as man’s responses belying his existence (Stanford Encyclopedia). For Meursault, his abnormal reactions and behaviors warrants discomfort from others. His lack of ambition to find an answer for the main question behind absurdism makes his characterization simple. Meursault speaks what he believes and knows. There are no genuine underlying sinister traits behind Meursault’s being, he simply acts upon his whims. The same whims throw him into an agreement to marry a girl, trap an abusive man’s ex-girlfriend, and kill an Arab man. All of which he does not with the intent to harm, but just the inability to explain why he should not. Meursault most often gives up on trying to explain his beliefs or intentions to those who do not immediately understand, such as his neighbors, lawyer, and