Waiting for Sisyphus
Every mind has struggled with Existentialism. Its founders toiled to define it, philosophers strained to grasp it, teachers have a difficult time explaining it. Where do these Existentialists get the right to tell me that my one and only world is meaningless? How can a student believe that someone was sitting in jail and figured out that our existence precedes our essence? Existentialism places man in the center of his own universe; free to make his own choices and decide his purpose. Many of us are not ready for this. Fortunately, the world has come to trust its authors. You can't just sit down and explain the Existentialist belief to a person - it must be put into the context of the human situation. Through stories and situations the ideas are defined - Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea, Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and theater of the absurd plays like Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Eugene Ionesco's Amedee - they spin you around on your chair so you are facing the real world, and then shove you right into the middle of it. Existentialism especially turns our attention toward the meaningless, repetitive and dull existences we all must lead. Two works, The Myth of Si
This brings another question: Could Sisyphus have moved on also? It seems that if he could make the choice to return to his rock, he could also make the choice to leave it behind. We are not sure of Sisyphus's consequences, but in our lives there are many things to consider when making choices; our families, our loved ones, and our futures. If we choose to run from our destinies, we would only find ourselves exactly where fate wishes us. If Sisyphus had pushed his rock to the top and it remained still, on the walk down the slope to freedom, the rock would roll behind him and squash him flat. syphus by Albert Camus and Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett have exemplified these existential points in contrasting perspectives. In the essay The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus takes a look at the story of Sisyphus, a man that scorns the Gods, challenges their power, and causes a lot of trouble in his life and afterlife. As his punishment, "His whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing." He pushes and strains his entire body to move a boulder up a mountain slope, and when he reaches the top, it rolls back to the very bottom. Sisyphus must repeat this task for eternity. This is a lonely and painful experience. At first, Sisyphus must feel such agony and regret, but Camus believes that Sisyphus is happy. Maybe the first, second, or hundredth time that he returned to his rock, he realized: though his fate ties him to this ceaseless and futile labour, he is the owner of that fate. Once we are conscious of the useless and absurd things we do daily, we can accept them as our duty, and revel in joy that we accomplish even the most meaningless goals. Sisyphus walks down the slope ready to try again, and ready to fail, because it is his purpose.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1239
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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