106k views
4 votes
According to Camus, what is the positive aspect of Sisyphus's plight? How, according to Camus, can Sisyphus respond to his punishment? How does that relate to our own lives?

User Spetsnaz
by
7.2k points

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

Camus sees Sisyphus's consciousness of his futile task as a form of freedom, suggesting that he finds meaning by accepting his punishment and highlighting the correlation with our own search for meaning amidst life's absurdity.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Albert Camus, the positive aspect of Sisyphus's plight is in the underlying freedom and rebellion against his fate. Sisyphus is condemned to an eternity of rolling a stone up a hill, only for it to roll back down before he reaches the top. Yet, Camus suggests that in the moment when Sisyphus descends the hill to retrieve his stone, he is conscious of his plight, and it is in this consciousness that he finds his freedom to accept and create his own meaning despite the futility of his punishment. This, Camus posits, is how Sisyphus responds to his punishment: by embracing the absurdity of his situation and continuing with his task regardless. The story of Sisyphus relates to our own lives in that we, too, face the inherent meaninglessness of existence, and like Sisyphus, must find the will to continue and create meaning irrespective of the inevitable endpoint of death.

User Gsquaredxc
by
8.2k points