Living in the state of absurdity

My perception of the future, grounded in certainty and hopeful aspirations, has been devastated by events of the past year. As an English student, the theme of humanity grappling with its own mortality is one that I constantly run into. However, the naivety of my youth instilled the belief that I am somehow invincible against the pain and anguish of illness and death. I have never considered my own fallibility until the possibility of contracting COVID-19 loomed over me and cast a long shadow over my comfortable daily routine. As the death toll continues to rise in Canada, I can no longer maintain the illusion that sickness and death are merely logical by-products of old age or the result of a one-in-a-million freak accident that can never befall me.

My realization is not a unique revelation in the sphere of philosophy. Discovering the inherent meaning and logic behind life and death is an endeavor that proves inevitable to conscious existence. Absurdism is the belief that life is chaotic and death is nonsensical. This philosophy prompted the rise of absurdist fiction in post-WWII Europe, exploring the conflict between the human desire for an intrinsic purpose in life and the futility of such pursuit. If life is inconsequential, what propels someone to move forward while fully acknowledging their own insignificance?

“The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus is arguably one of the most well-known Absurdist writings. In his essay, Camus introduces the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who is punished for cheating death and doomed to repeat a single task for eternity; Sisyphus must push a boulder up a hill, only to have the stone return to the foot of the mountain at the cusp of completion.  According to Camus, humans are similarly condemned to repeat their meaningless routine (eat, work, sleep) until the end. The triviality of existence has been augmented by the repetitiveness of life under quarantine; as the lockdown drags on, it becomes difficult to imagine that anything could change from our current state of uncertainty and dismay. However, rather than an image of abject defeat, Camus imagines Sisyphus triumphant during that moment of reset as the boulder returns to its original position. Slowly, Sisyphus walks back down the hill with a “heavy yet measured step.” In that moment of descent, Sisyphus is conscious of his condition. Camus acknowledges the futility of Sisyphus’ task, but it is not its completion that secures his victory. His unyielding descent despite the consciousness of his torture allows him to find contentment and acceptance from within rather than from the external force of God, or fate.

The absurdity of the human condition is further examined in Albert Camus’ 1947 novel “La Peste (The Plague)” set in the city of Oran on the Algerian coast. Oran is an “ugly” and satirical town without anything to recommend itself as an ideal place to live. The pursuit of meaning and happiness is obscured by the demands and humdrum of everyday life; the citizens attend to their jobs, satisfy their bodily needs, and consider their daily routines as ‘living.’ However, the emergence of a deadly plague in the city interrupts the habits of its citizens and forces them to reconsider their relationship with mortality.

The plague is framed as a nightmare bound to end soon. Despite the dire state of the epidemic, the citizens of Oran still maintain an illusion of control over the illness. This humanist perspective of the plague mirrors how many of us view the COVID-19 pandemic; while news outlets and social media reiterate the daily cases, it is hard to imagine that it will ever befall us. However, as the death toll in Oran skyrockets, mass panic settles into the city. The recognition that the plague is ever-present symbolizes a Sisyphean moment of consciousness for the citizens of Oran. The sudden and grotesque nature of the disease prompts a surge of religious zeal as people seek an explanation for the casualties. Father Paneloux, seizing the fear and confusion of the citizens, claims that the plague is God’s punishment for the wicked. However, in a truly devastating scene, the priest is forced to bear witness to the anguish of a sick child as he finally succumbs to the illness with the “grotesque pose of a crucified man in a ravage-bed.” The death of the child forces Paneloux to reassess his religious beliefs as he comes to the conclusion that suffering is not the will of God, but utterly pointless and random.

The period of plague is not so different from our banal life of comfort and routines. The epidemic in Oran simply amplifies the absurdity of life and forces its citizens to pause and consider their own fallibility: “everyone has—inside it himself, this plague, because no one in the world, no one, is immune.” However, Camus is not a pessimist. After all, “one must imagine Sisyphus happy” in spite of his absurd state. Similarly, the absurd hero of The Plague, Dr. Rieux, works relentlessly to ease the sufferings of his fellow citizens despite the consciousness that he can only delay, but never prevent, death. Just as Sisyphus returns to the foot of the mountain, conscious of his torture, Rieux performs his duties every day in spite of the understanding that he can never permanently ease the suffering of his fellow humans.

As the pandemic continues into 2021, I am forced to acknowledge and accept my limited agency over the virus and my life. I have no foresight into my fate nor to the fate of anyone else around me. I can only practice my sense of decency and perform my duties by carrying on with my life. There is a sense of relief in the resignation of human agency. In the unmovable resolution to complete a task, regardless of its inherent meaning, “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

Thus, all is well.