SISYPHUS, THE GUEST, AND THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALL

Liz Russell

“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? a. Being chained to a rock to have his liver eaten by

a vulture each morningb. Sitting in a pool of water that recedes every time

he attempts to drink from itc. Rolling a huge stone uphill only to have it roll back

to be re-pushed up the hilld. 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 actionsb. Measured in his attitude toward his actionsc. Absurdd. Both b and c e. All of the above, which is absurd, but I don’t care

because I’m a nihilistf. 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?a. Whether or not to deliver the prisoner to the

French authoritiesb. Whether or not to turn himself into the French

authoritiesc. Whether or not to allow the policeman deliver

the prisoner to the French authoritiesd. 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?

a. Whether or not to take Daru to the French authorities

b. Whether or not to follow the policeman to Daru’s school

c. Whether or not to return to his homed. 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_Camus>.