AN ABSURD LIFE : FROM THE WRITINGS OF ALBERT CAMU

Absurdism is the conscious understanding of man of how irrelevant he is in the grand scheme of
things This creed of Absurdism gained popularity through the second World War. The rational, empirical
and comprehensible were replaced by chaos, ambiguity and confusion as bombs were dropped and
hundreds of people were wiped out without a second thought.
War shook the ground underneath what used to be concrete truth. This school of thought saw
subscribers pouring in as facts weren’t infallible and not every question seemed to have answers. The
french resistance against Nazi occupation during the second world war was gaining traction. It is here
where Camus was emerging as a writer for the French Resistance Newspaper, Combat. He explored
literature and philosophy, scouring the depths of these disciplines to unveil the purpose of existence.
“any average city can be wiped out by a bomb the size of a football.” - Albert Camus, The Combat
This quote by Camus distinctly points to his awareness of the futility and vulnerability of
human life. Camus, an existentialist, modernist writer was greatly influenced by the war. His lacking faith
in humanity and belief in its disillusionment was strengthened by the theories he began developing. Some
of his famous works are from the genre of philosophical fiction, for instance: The Plague and The
Stranger. Some of the most exemplary essays on the subject of the human condition, social rebellion, and
the undercurrent of revolution were authored by him. These being The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel.
Sisyphus or Sisyphos, the well known greek mythological figure’s infamy was partly because of his
general trickery and partly for cheating death twice. The king of Gods Zeus condemned him to eternal
punishment of rolling a boulder up a hill in the innominate depths of the underworld (or hell) ruled by
Hades. The myth is a lesson of the comeuppance delivered to those who escape karma. The essays by
Camus however revolved around Absurdism, the philosophical line of thinking he was committed to. The
focal point of these essays isn’t the myth itself but the Absurdist idea it alluded to. This idea runs through
the essay in strong undercurrents acting as a nexus for the individual links to the grecian myth.