A Comparison of Fate in The Stranger (The Outsider) and Myth of Sisyphus :: comparison compare contrast essays

Fate in The Stranger (The Outsider) and story of Sisyphus In his works, The Stranger (The Outsider) and Myth of Sisyphus, Camus addresses the consciousness of Meursault and Sisyphus through their fate. Sisyphus knows his fate. He to Because he has the opportunity and does rationalize his fate, he has consciousness. As the rock rolls back down, he is able to look back upon his living and analyze it. Nothing could be more existentialist. Sartres Garcin wants to meet his fate face to face. So, Sisyphus, embodies this desire of Garcin, and is thus a hero to him. Similarly, Charles Dickens scrooge has the odd opportunity to become an observer to his fate in the past, indue and future. While Camus Meursault does not care about his past, he expresses the same feelings as scrooge and Garcin in their desire to confront their fate. Indeed, this is why they are every man and Sisyphus is our hero - he has and will always confront his fate. He has the conscious power to mull and control his fate. Therefore, if we know that everyone faces death as their fate, consciousness equals the ability to deal with ones fate. If we know our fate, do our lives hold meaning? Meursault remarks, Nothing, nothing mattered, and I know why. He knows he will be executed by a society in which he cannot exist, but he resigns and thereby assures himself that the middle is meaningless. Before his arrest, he knew he would die. Perhaps this knowledge justifies his living moment to moment. His statement compares to Becketts Vladimir when he laments, Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it is awful Both Meursault and Vladimir understand their unclimbable fate, but Meursault desires to confront it. This reveals Meursault to have the heroic qualities of Sisyphus. So, what Vladimir recognizes, Meursault confronts, and Sisyphus transcends. Sisyphus conquers his fate in spite of his immortality. Camus addresses the consciousness of Meursault and Sisyphus through their fate. By the ability to recognize his past, Sisyphus shows how Meursault lacks unhappiness. Meursault has nothing with which to compare the sport he feels instantly, so he is at the least continually content and possibly perpetually happy. Conversely, Sisyphus understands his past yet chooses not to compare his past to the present or his known future. When the priest asks Meursault if he would prefer a different life to his own, he remarks he wants a life where I could remember this one.