Saturday, April 28, 2012

Tara Thompson - Outside reading #1


For my Existentialism class we had to read Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus. This was a non-fiction book on the actual myth about a man who died and tricked the gods into allowing him to return to earth. When they realized they had been tricked they sentenced him to eternity pushing a stone up a mountain, only to have it roll back down again. Camus’ view was that Sisyphus was lucky because there was nothing unknown to him. He argued that it was better to be in such a horrible place and knowing that it was your eternity rather than not knowing what was going to happen tomorrow. I definitely disagree with Camus’ point of view. Yes, sometimes not knowing can hurt you, it can cause heartache and disappointment. However, it gives a person hope and something to live for. If you were to know what was going to happen every day for the rest of your life, what is the point? You already know your whole story. Also, if you know how can you fully live? It is like the quote, “It is better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all”. I would much rather experience a true and real love that doesn’t work than to have never experienced it. Not only would so many people not choose love if they knew they were going to get hurt, but they also might not fully put their heart into it because they knew what was going to happen. 

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