Pathos In Albert Camus The Myth Of Sisyphus

“If I were a tree among trees, a cat among animals, this life would have a meaning, or rather this problem would not arise, for I should belong to this world.” -Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
Pathos
My life is in the hands of others. Now do not misinterpret me as a being of passive behavior. I have been saved so many times from death it is only worth defining myself as a being who has a social crutch. Once I fell out of the bed of a truck, head first. My life did not flash before my eyes, it was in a state of nothing, If I were to die my last thought would have been securing a few bags of camping equipment a few seconds ago. My father did catch me, I lived only to realize the peril that I endured after I was inverted in his arms. ONE.

I was shy, I was sad, every moment of every day previously. Yes, I was young and did not know how the world functioned. Every day I was too timid to communicate so every day was a spiral downward. Another step into the dissent of self-proclaimed exile. Every day I rationalized that I am ‘the other’ and every day I was told to celebrate your differences, when all I could see was the differences. I did not think like the other kids, I did not talk like the other kids, and I especially did not act like the other kids. I would know an answer within seconds while the other kids took a few minutes. I would not talk to others is was shy I did not understand how other could so easily talk to each other. I only wandered the playground I had no need to slide down a slide it seemed pointless only to me. No similarity, no ground, no gateway to acceptance into another social group. The only friend that I had in my very small elementary class was also disconnected, also socially awkward, and never had time to spend with me due to learning disabilities, unknown at the time. All of this cause me to think to myself, I am the one circle in a sea of squares. I remember myself on the playground looking at all the others wondering if they saw the futility of what they were doing. These children would crawl to the top of a structure and jump off either to get hurt, then a cold wind would blow and I would dismiss all of their actions as foolish.

In the myth similar to the punishment of greed in Dante’s inferno Sisyphus is doomed to roll a rock up a hill just for it to roll back down once it nears the top. Camus philosophizes that this action or his life is absurd and that Sisyphus’ life is punishment. Life then becomes an issue of outlook. The depressed man or woman will curse his existence and will want to rebel against his punishment in any way he can clawing for a better life and a better existence. The joyful man or woman will see that he is fulfilling his life and welcome the opportunity to push a rock up a hill for it to just roll back down. If he changes how he sees his world and job, Sisyphus will not experience pain or sadness, instead every time the rock rolls back down Sisyphus will become happier because he will get to roll the rock