The Myth Of Sisyphus Analysis

Finding meaning in an uncaring universe
Camus' philosophy of absurdism is important to his fiction; his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" details the specifics. Understanding “MoS” helps put into context “The Stranger”. Camus starts from a perspective of nihilism: the universe is without any intrinsic meaning, and in return all of our actions are equally without intrinsic value. For Meursault, this means that things happen, his mother dies, he accepts marriage, he kills someone, nothing fazes Meursault, and he just is. Here's where Camus' Absurdist philosophy comes in: the universe may be meaningless, but it is foolish to leave it at that. Meursault's story takes us through the necessary steps for accepting the absurd; he shows us that in order to properly embrace the meaninglessness of the universe, you must first recognize that meaninglessness. We crave meaning, but Camus knows there is none to be found; meaning must be made. What this means for the novel is that Meursault is to be pitied, but not indefinitely, as his imprisonment forces him, and us, to re-address views.
In the first act of The Stranger, Mersault is like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the mountain: "a face that toils so close to the stone is already stone itself!” Camus writes in MoS. Mersault lives entirely in the present, as merely object acting on other objects. The only thing that he is concerned with is the physicality of his existence. He comments on the heat of the sun, or his hunger, about his neighbors and girlfriend, rather than how he feels about his mother dying, and so on, because he is more or less an object and not a subject. He doesn't remark on his emotions because he doesn't really have any. It's the physicality of the beach that causes him to...

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...by the death of an innocent boy, but ends up deciding that in the face of such atrocities, we should still seek an all-loving God, even if it seems irrational or impossible.
Meursault's final lines are paramount to the meaning of the novel. Just before his execution, Meursault finds grace in the vast, uncaring universe, and is prepared to go to his execution and relish the hatred poured upon him. This is maybe my favourite part of the novel: Meursault's death is a metaphor for life. In the end, Meursault becomes Sisyphus, and as Camus says in MoS, "we must imagine Sisyphus happy."

The mistake Meursault makes is in not investing the events of his life with a meaning he constructs. Even though there is no meaning in the universe to be found, we still have an obligation to keep rolling the rock up the hill. What we control however, is our perception of its value.