Tgow Short Answers
Morality
Daru faces a moral dilemma when he is ordered to turn in the Arab. Like all the themes in the narrative, morality is treated with ambiguity. Daru's course of action leads him into moral trouble: he does not know whether the Arab deserves to be punished or let go, and he allows this uncertainty to overwhelm him. He fails to choose at all, instead allowing the Arab to choose either freedom or trial. Daru's ensuing moral despair should be understood in the light of Camus's philosophy. Camus believed that once a decision was reached, it should be stuck to, and that the freedom to choose one's action gives meaning to human life. Daru certainly believes that turning in the Arab was wrong, yet he fails to simply release the prisoner. He fails to make a decision, and as a result he is left in complete moral solitude.
Albert Camus, famed author of The Myth of Sisyphus, relates yet another parable. The man in the story, Sisyphus, has been condemned by the gods to roll a rock to the top of a mountain every day of his life. Every day he would roll it up the mountain and then the rock would roll back down to the bottom. “As much through his passions as through his torture,” Sisyphus embodies the characterization of an absurd hero (89). He is called this because he knows what will happen after the rock is rolled to the top, yet he remains content in doing so. “Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory” (90).
What the gods intended as punishment, Sisyphus does not see as such. Camus writes, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” This story, like Plato’s allegory, both illustrates humanity’s inherent fear of change and continues to mirror the current social system- especially in Camus’ address
Daru faces a moral dilemma when he is ordered to turn in the Arab. Like all the themes in the narrative, morality is treated with ambiguity. Daru's course of action leads him into moral trouble: he does not know whether the Arab deserves to be punished or let go, and he allows this uncertainty to overwhelm him. He fails to choose at all, instead allowing the Arab to choose either freedom or trial. Daru's ensuing moral despair should be understood in the light of Camus's philosophy. Camus believed that once a decision was reached, it should be stuck to, and that the freedom to choose one's action gives meaning to human life. Daru certainly believes that turning in the Arab was wrong, yet he fails to simply release the prisoner. He fails to make a decision, and as a result he is left in complete moral solitude.
Albert Camus, famed author of The Myth of Sisyphus, relates yet another parable. The man in the story, Sisyphus, has been condemned by the gods to roll a rock to the top of a mountain every day of his life. Every day he would roll it up the mountain and then the rock would roll back down to the bottom. “As much through his passions as through his torture,” Sisyphus embodies the characterization of an absurd hero (89). He is called this because he knows what will happen after the rock is rolled to the top, yet he remains content in doing so. “Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory” (90).
What the gods intended as punishment, Sisyphus does not see as such. Camus writes, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” This story, like Plato’s allegory, both illustrates humanity’s inherent fear of change and continues to mirror the current social system- especially in Camus’ address