Essays on Albert Camus

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus is a philosophical essay written in 1942 that addresses the question of whether life is worth living through. From the perspective of the author, people share a similar path to the Greek hero Sisyphus, moving a boulder up...

Most of Albert Camus’ writings focus on the philosophy of the Absurd. His main character in the novel, The Stranger exemplifies what an absurd man is and his essay The Myth of Sisyphus takes readers through his reasoning for his belief and the conclusion that...

Amid the feverish horror of rampant sickness and death, The Plague is a parable of human remoteness and the struggle to share existence. In studying the relationships which Camus sets forth, the relationship between man and lover, mother and son, healer and diseased, it can...

The mother or the motherly figure has always played an important place in society and is always placed to a position akin to gods and important figures, this can be seen in religion such as Christianity where female figures such as Mary which are exemplified...

There are many reasons why the tale of “The Myth of Sisyphus” is important to Albert Camus, for one, it is an allegory for what it means to be human. Camus expertly dissects Sisyphus’ existence and relates it to three final consequences of human life...

Truth Dawning: The Sun as a Symbol for Meursault’s Awareness in Albert Camus’ The Stranger In his novel “The Stranger,” Albert Camus uses the relentless Algerian sun as a metaphor for the awareness of reality that pursues his main character, Meursault, throughout the novel. The...

Sorrow and joy go hand in hand, as does Sisyphus, as he crowns himself in his defeat. The pendulum between night and day swings, for it is not possible to experience the light without the dark. That being said, there can be joy found in...

The last two paragraphs of The Plague emphasize Camus’ belief that even during a crisis, humans must always fight against death even if that battle will be a constant struggle without victory. Rieux deems the stubborn and communal fight of man against death as the...

Albert Camus studied the philosophy of the absurd and decided that, to him, the most important philosophical question was “why not commit suicide?” In “The Myth of Sisyphus: An Absurd reasoning” (1942), he discusses his thoughts on the answer to this question. He considers the...

For as long as humans have lived on the earth, they have looked for a purpose, for meaning to what we do. In the essay I read it talks about just that. The essay I read was The Myth Of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. In...

Today, we find ourselves striving to find meaning in our lives by attending university, finding a career, and making enough money to live comfortably. Some may say that life is worth living because of this search. Others, such as Albert Camus, claim that our life...

Philosophical views have become widely recognized as a handbook for mankind. Though some philosophical views may sound surreal and out of the world, most of them can be directly applied to life as well as the various happenings in life. The earliest known philosophers include...

The Stranger by Albert Camus Albert Camus’ The Stranger follows the life of a man after the death of his mother whom one learns very little about, save for some few words of wisdom that the man, Meursault, recalls sporadically throughout the novel. One of...

In The Plague itself, Albert Camus uses the concept of a plague to allegorically represent the wartime occupation of France during World War II and symbolize the absurdity of nature. The coastal town of Oran, located in Northern Africa, is burdened by this unstoppable pestilence...

The Plague is an exploration of caricatures and how they respond in desperate situations. Albert Camus does this by putting multiple characters in the same situation, the controlled variable, but changing the philosophies each represent, the manipulated variable. This experiment judges the philosophical tenacity of...