One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy

Is Sisysphus our Absurd Hero?

In Albert Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Sisyphus is a character sentenced to push a huge rock up a hill, only to see it roll back down each time he nears the top. It’s a never-ending, pointless task.

At first, I wondered how Sisyphus could be happy doing something so futile. But Camus suggests that happiness doesn’t come from achieving goals. Instead, it comes from defying the meaninglessness of life itself.

The fate of failure curses Sisyphus. No matter how far he gets the boulder up the hill, it is doomed to fall, as if all his work is for nothing. In that case, how can one imagine Sisyphus happy? Think of it like drawing art you’ll never publish. The act of expression and living is more important than the goal. Sisyphus chooses to continue trying; he has rebelled against a meaningless world and made it meaningful by accepting its absurdity and rejecting that absurdity. By continuing to push the boulder up the hill, he has given himself meaning, even if the boulder never finds its way to the top. He knows that, understands it, and then rejects it, and tries anyway. Thus, for his continual act of rebellion, One Must Imagine Sisyphus happy.