Sisyphus, The Guest, and the Absurdity of it all

Liz Russell Sisyphus, The Guest, and the Absurdity of it all

“Existence Precedes Essence” • It all goes back to Locke . . . • Tabula Rosa - You existed before you thought • There are NO innate ideas – all came from somewhere else

Big Q of Existentialism: • If everything we define ourselves with is meaningless (came from somewhere else), how do we confront that??

Here’s how Camus explains it: Absurdity: meaningless of human action • Life lacks reason – it makes no sense Freedom: humans have ability to choose how we want • Humans make/create their own meaning (Kurtz)

Camus’s explanation cont.: • Choice: Humans’ will to act – how we create meaning in life • Have freedom to choose HOW we want, but no one can escape choice • Responsibility: therefore, humans are responsible for their own fate – we choose it “The actions which I may be punished/rewarded for, I perform freely”

Implications: • We have to choose between what is right or wrong – nothing’s gonna help us • No matter what we choose, we all die in the end • Our choices can’t change the ending of life, only the meaning of it while it exists

What’s the point of life then? • If life is meaningless (absurd), and our choices make no difference, and we all die anyway, what’s the point?

How to beat absurdity(hint: Copy Sisyphus) • This guy’s life is the epitome of meaninglessness 1. What is Sisyphus’s punishment? • Being chained to a rock to have his liver eaten by a vulture each morning • Sitting in a pool of water that recedes every time he attempts to drink from it • Rolling a huge stone uphill only to have it roll back to be re-pushed up the hill • Being placed upside down in a chamber and having his feet burned by flames

How to beat absurdity cont.: • He can’t change it – so what’s a guy to do? 2. According to Camus, Sisyphus’s heroism is: a. Measured in his actions b. Measured in his attitude toward his actions c. Absurd d. Both b and c e. All of the above, which is absurd, but I don’t care because I’m a nihilist f. Who the hell knows; I really am a nihilist and never read the assignments

How to beat absurdity cont.: • Camus says: Sisyphus is an ‘absurd hero’ because he embraces his meaningless task • Even though he knows it’s pointless, he keeps doing it, and chooses to find meaning in it

How get beat by absurdity: • Give up. Accept hopelessness. • Sum it up by simply saying “What’s the point?” • Camus’s Existential Failure: someone who does not choose to create meaning or morality

Let’s tie in The Guest • Setting = Absurdity • Drought, barren land – “No one in this desert, neither he or his guest, mattered”

Freedom and Choices and all that Jazz 3. In The Guest, what decision does Daru have to make? • Whether or not to deliver the prisoner to the French authorities • Whether or not to turn himself into the French authorities • Whether or not to allow the policeman deliver the prisoner to the French authorities • Whether or not to continue to teach school in Algeria

Freedom and Choices and all that Jazz • Daru: • 1. Deliver prisoner to French authorities • 2. Help prisoner/ do not deliver him to authorities Q: In the end – will it really matter which he chooses?

Freedom and Choices and all that jazz Q: Is Daru an existential hero? Why?

Freedom and Choices and all that Jazz • Daru knows his choice to help prisoner won’t matter in the long run (he faces death either way) • But, he chooses to help him based on the meaning/morality he has created.

Freedom and Choices and all that Jazz 4. What choice does the prisoner have to make? • Whether or not to take Daru to the French authorities • Whether or not to follow the policeman to Daru’s school • Whether or not to return to his home • Whether or not to turn himself into the French authorities

Freedom and Choices and all that Jazz • Q: Is the prisoner what Camus would define as Existential Hero? Why?

Freedom and Choices and all that Jazz • Prisoner made no effort to create meaning, he let something else make it for him. After all – what’s the point? • Ex: Alcoholic has no one to blame but himself • Daru COULD HAVE chosen to give up and not help.

The Big Q Again: • If everything we define ourselves with is meaningless (came from somewhere else), how do we confront that??

Pulling it all together:(kinda) • Literally, there is no point to life (absurdity) • Everyone has to choose, even though we all die in the end.

THE KEY: • Anything other than life itself is pointless; life itself sucks. • Embrace/appreciate it anyway. • Create meaning, values, etc. even if they will have no affect on the outcome. • Life itself is more valuable than the end (death).

5. Based on these two readings, Camus probably believes that a man condemned to die in a concentration camp: a. Has been denied the ability to become a hero, and that this is the real crime b. Is as free to become a hero as anyone else

Possible Test Questions • 1. How do the elements of choice, freedom, and responsibility play a role in The Guest ? (Daru, the prisoner, the policeman) • 2. How would Camus define an existential hero, and how does Sisyphus exemplify that definition?

Further Sources (other than Tom’s notes) • “Camus: The Guest”. Engl 2210 WorldLiterature II: Study Guides. 25 April 2009. Auburn University: George Mitrevski <www.auburn.edu/~mitrege/ENGL2210/stu dy-guides/GuestNotes.doc>. • Raskin, Richard. “Camus’s Critques of Existentialism”. Minerva: An Internet Journal of Philosophy. 5 (2001): 156-165. 25 April 2009 <http://www.mic.ul.ie/stephen/camus.pdf>.

More Sources (further information on Camus) • “Camus the Myth of Sisyphus”. Video Google.com. 19 November 2009. 26 April 2009 <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=- 5447055176255016009 >. • (Also check out parts 2-4) • “Albert Camus”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 2009. Wikipedia Encyclopedia. 26 April 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Cam us>.

Sisyphus, The Guest, and the Absurdity of it all