The Myth of Sisyphus

Part 2 seeks to answer one question: “What, in fact, is the absurd man?” (66). The person who lives with absurdity doesn’t try to create immortal things or live by beliefs in the immortal; such a person “does nothing for the eternal” and makes no attempt to impress others or posterity (66). In living by no rules, such a person also avoids indulging in immoral behavior. What matters is consciousness of life’s absurdity.

The remainder of Part 2 examines three different types of absurd men “who aim only to expend themselves” (69): the Don Juan, the actor, and the conqueror.

Don Juan seduces women without reserve. He knows he’s selfish; he lives for quantity, not quality; he doesn’t try to be a saint. His understanding of life’s futility gives him room to love each woman fully without trying to make that love eternal. He doesn’t look back; he doesn’t indulge in regret, “that other form of hope” (72).

Books teach that great love is universal, but the feeling of love for a given person is unique to that person. To bind a lover forever in one experience of love is a disservice.