Sisyphus Happy: Absurdly Heroic, Absurdly Happy - Essay Example

Sisyphus Happy: Absurdly Heroic, Absurdly Happy Albert Camus presents Sisyphus the Absurd Hero. Camus asserts, emphatically, that Sisyphus is this,through his torture as well as through his passions. If his passions had earlier defined his existence, now, in the present, in the eternal present that has swallowed up the idea of any other possible future, his torture also serves to define him. The word 'serves' is used here advisedly, that is, in a Camusian sense. The torture serves its master, which is not the gods who decreed the torture, but Sisyphus the man, the mortal who carries it out. He has mastered his rock and made it his own, he has made it the rock of Sisyphus, he has made the rock Sisyphus and he, Sisyphus, has become the rock. If the tragic hero Oedipus could assert in his conscious pain that "all is well", Camus's concept of 'Sisyphus Happy' must be accurate because, it is true that "there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn" (121). Camus enumerates the passions that define Sisyphus-"his scorn of the gods, his hatred of death and his passion for life." These have gained him the most unspeakable of penalties in which he has to strive with all his heart and might to accomplish nothing. But exerting oneself to accomplish nothing is a classic example of negation, and Sisyphus must have seen that adding the emotion of joy to his labors would be the best way of negating the gods-admittedly, one of his prime interests. Therefore, when Camus says that Sisyphus, the 'proletarian of the gods' is Sisyphus Happy-the statement is irrefutable. For Sisyphus was said to have been the wisest of mortals. Camus reminds us that the fate of modern man in the modern workplace, working every day at the same tasks, is no less absurd than that of Sisyphus. Modern man then lives and works in true absurd fashion, but the birth of the tragic, the opportunity for heroism, the potential for authentic existence only becomes possible in those rare moments when he becomes aware of the absurdity. Sisyphus's strength, as well as his joy, rises out of his consciousness of his condition. Out of consciousness, out of awareness, out of lucidity springs Sisyphus's victory over the rock, over the gods, over the oppression of his situation. The films of Charlie Chaplin depict beautifully the absurdity at the heart of much of human endeavor in 'modern times.' Chaplin shows that the modern absurd hero is the man who is aware of the absurdity of his condition. Such a man can overcome the oppressiveness of his life and work by means of the weapon of scorn. He does not hope to achieve happiness because of his work, or as a consequence of it. However, the weapon of scorn gives him the feeling of joy while engaged in the work. That joy is his way of achieving mastery over the work as well as over any who may have hoped that the work would frustrate his soul. On the other hand, unmixed joy would not be the absurd hero's chosen cup of tea or bowl of vinegar. The emotion of joy cannot be divorced from the experience of pain and sorrow. Sisyphus's descent is therefore, sometimes done in sorrow. Camus believes that the sorrow was in the beginning, when memories of the earth plagued his soul. At times like these, the rock triumphs. But Sisyphus rarely allows himself such lugubriousness or such agonizing. Most of his effort is undertaken, in Camus's vision, in silent joy. This is because Sisyphus knows that "His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing" (123). It is his rock-not the rock of the gods, not the instrument devised by the gods to punish him-but something that defines him, that expresses the essence of his spirit, his existence, and his supreme scorn for pompous authority. The Last Castle is a movie starring Robert Redford in the role of former general who has been sent to a prison under the control of an officious Chief Warden. The film highlights a penalty inflicted by the Warden on the imprisoned general for a minor offense. The punishment involved the single-handed lifting and transportation of a large heap of heavy rocks from one point to another. Only when the general, cheered on by the other prisoners, completes the task with superhuman perseverance, does the Warden reveal the second stage of the punishment. All the rocks now have to be lifted and transported back to their original location by the general. When the general has accomplished this seemingly absurd task intended to humiliate him, he becomes a hero to the prisoners. They see in him a leader to remind them that they too needed to exist as human beings, not as subhuman doormats. The task then becomes a lofty ideal, the person who executes it becomes a genuine verifiable existent-and the only figures that are diminished by the experience are those who had set the task with questionable intentions. In mythology, quite apart from Sisyphus who needed a Camus to highlight his mettle, better-known heroes have tasted the wine of absurdity. The labors of Hercules may have ended in an absurd death. Nevertheless, his awareness of the heroism of his actions, his acceptance of the treachery that caused his fall, and the manner of his chosen exit from earth, all ensure that he is remembered as a hero rather than as a victim or a loser. The most important thing is that Hercules did not allow himself to be diminished by life or by labor or by death or by anything else-it was his life, his labors and his death and he remains the epitome of heroism. Likewise, Job, in the Bible, did not allow his spirit to be broken by the suffering and the pain and the deaths and the misfortunes that brought his happy world crashing around him. There have never been any doubts about Job's constant faith in God. Yet, he was man enough to exist, to proclaim his inner worth, and to question the injustice of his experiences not just before his fellow men but also before God himself when directly challenged. To cite an example from our own times, the life of Nelson Mandela, the South African leader, could be considered to follow a trajectory of absurdity. His association with an organization that did not anathematize violence, his imprisonment for an excessive period in the prime of his life, his stoic non-violence and true dignity in the midst of the violence and indignity of prison, his release at a relatively advanced age, his quick rise to power, his voluntary abdication of power soon after, his marital problems and their solutions-none of these mastered the man. Instead, he mastered all of these and all these now serve to define him and his existence and to clarify the existence of others. Therefore, when Camus declares Sisyphus 'happy,' there need be no doubt in our minds regarding that fact of existence. It is a fact of life that the absurd hero who wields the weapon of scorn can be happy anywhere. Sisyphus Happy then is happy because he is not just Sisyphus but Everyman who can be happy in any circumstances. He is happy because he will not allow circumstances to master him, to overpower him or to oppress him. He is happy because he can exist as himself in all circumstances. He is happy because he will consciously master all circumstances, however oppressive or frustrating they may be. He can do this whenever "he contemplates his torment"(123). When he contemplates his torment, when his consciousness masters it, he assists others in similar situations to contemplate and thus, to master their individual torments. References Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Trans. Justin O'Brien. New York: Vintage, 1960. Read More