“I hope I’m going to be fine”
“I hope I’ll pass the exam”
“I hope I’m going to get the job”
We hope all the time.
Partly because it’s deeply embedded in most of our conversational structure like saying “Hope to see you soon” before we say goodbye.
This verbal expression is translated into the way we think and behave. It becomes a culture — a default mode of being.
It seems that hoping connotes optimism. However, where do we draw the line between optimism and being naive?
Remember the last time you felt disappointed? I’m sure it’s not the best feeling in the world. Perhaps you wonder why you feel this way.
Let’s be critical of the way we expect and hope. To do this, we’re going to look at Albert Camus’ concept of the absurd and relate it to the culture of hope.
If you don’t know who Albert Camus is, he’s the guy who controversially said:
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."
The philosophy of absurdism by Albert Camus portrays this theme of hope in a way that makes you go “This concept of absurd makes so much sense”. Ironic right?
So sit back, clear your mind, and prepare yourself for a ride of self-reflection.
Albert Camus and Meursault
The depiction of Meursault character as an outsider to society in terms of his unfitting morality from the norm of the society is found to be a mirror to Camus’ personal experience of the state of isolation with his upbringing in Algeria as a French descendant.
Despite his literary contributions, Algeria still has polarising opinions on commemorating Camus as a Nobel Prize-winning author primarily for his stance during the Algerian War. However, Algeria was the crucible that moulded his art and philosophy and Camus is Algerian at least culturally.
Who is Meursault?
One would suggest Meursault be a sociopath as he was portrayed by Camus in the philosophical novel The Outsider as someone unable or perhaps wilfully chose not to see any importance in feeling emotions that are otherwise significant for most members of society.
He did not show any sign of grief in the event of his mother’s death and was unable to comprehend the weight of meaning behind the idea of sacred unity when he was proposed to by Marie for a marriage.
The degree of detachment Meursault had towards his feelings made him a suitable example of an absurd hero whom Sisyphus is personified.
What is the Absurd?
The absurd is the outcome of the contradiction between human’s longing for meaning in life and the human impotence to find any purpose in the indifferent and irrational universe.
Meursault is an absurd hero because he acknowledges the absurd —when society refused it by illusory means and that is hope.
Hope is the Absurd Form of Expectation
Hope is essentially a state of mind that is based upon the expectation of an outcome that one prefers to happen.
It has been widely accepted that hope is seen to be a positive mindset that a lot of ideologies and belief systems preached as a fundamental way of living. Hope translates itself into prayers and wishes which is a social norm up until today for its doctrinal origin.
However, the absurd put forward by Camus as a recurring theme in his works such as The Outsider and The Myth of Sisyphus implies that hope to an extent is a futile longing for an absurd certainty.
In The Outsider, Meursault was characterised to exhibit “authenticity” in the way that he was indifferent to the moral values defined by society and he behaves according to his judgement which was primarily evaluative and rational.
He did not expect and therefore hope to find any meaning in life, even if he were to find meaning in life it would be futile. The nihilistic attitude portrayed by Meursault stirs a flux of confusion in most readers when they read his depiction as it contradicts the norm of one’s moral conscience.
Hope Hinders Acceptance of the Nature of Existence
The absurdity of hope lies in its refusal to acceptance on the nature of existence. The longing for unity and avoidance of the notion of the impermanence of life signifies the desperate cry for meaning which comes from a narcissistic and self-righteous attitude.
Human seeks comfort from hope because that is much more appealing than accepting one's eventual fate, particularly towards the inevitable certainty that is death.
Meursault demonstrates character development in the way he perceives his inevitable death during his time in prison as he was sentenced for a murder that he committed which was judged to be intentional by the jury.
Previously during his trial, his main concern was the possibility of escaping punishment and hoping for a pardon and being freed.
However, he was charged guilty of the crime. He was surged with anxiety fuelled by his imagination on how the execution might end up failing on the first try which would make the execution more painful than it was supposed to be.
The idea of having to conform to the idea of a successful execution unto himself was uncomfortable for his psyche. This anxiety was a consequence of the hope for freedom that he had before. It is an absurd anxiety.
Only after fully accepting the circumstance that he was in, he realised that there was no difference between dying from the execution and dying from a natural cause if he were to be granted freedom to live for a few decades more.
Death is simply an inevitable certainty that mortals desperately try to avoid with illusory surmises.
His acceptance of death led him to experience an authentic joy of being alive at the brink of his living moment:
“And I, too, felt ready to start life all over again. It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy and that I was happy still.” — “Meursault”, The Outsider
Hope Deteriorates Rational Judgement
Rational judgement is at stake when an expectation is clouded with hope or perhaps hope is clouded with expectation.
In Meursault's case, one may lose their grip on the reality of temporal significance as their mind is stranded in the future hoping for a preferable event to happen that they lose sight of the present moment that is unfolding.
Meursault embraced his death and by relinquishing hope, he manages to find solace and gratitude with the days that he had left before the day of the execution instead of spending his last days lamenting about all the things that he could have experienced if he was free from the death sentence.
Being in the present moment is achieved in the absence of hope.
Managing Expectations
It is difficult to attempt the feat of emotional temperament exhibited by Meursault in relinquishing his hope for an escape from the death sentenced upon him as it was an extreme representation of one’s ability to control the mind by one’s intention.
The evolutionary mind that humans possessed is biologically wired to conceive phenomena in terms of expectation for survival.
Does this mean the discussion on forsaking hope is absurd as it is unattainable entirely because of our biological human condition?
To a certain extent, it is absurd — however, humans do have the capacity to manage expectations rather than abdicating them entirely.
Practice Self-Reflection
Managing expectations is a skill that can be learned by anyone given they are open to mental practices such as self-reflection.
The act of contemplation has become a luxury nowadays because our minds are distracted most of the time with information bombarding our sensory receptors in every corner of our experience in the 21st-century world filled with Spectacle.
Intentional action is required to simply sit down and reflect on one’s own life and how one perceives the world. Meursault exemplified the act of contemplation with his routine observation of the street filled with people and evaluating everyday life with his values.
An effective habit that everyone can start to do now to engage in self-reflection is journaling.
Pouring your thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper will give you a clearer view of how your mind operates therefore opening up an understanding of your expectations in different areas of your life.
You then decide what is the most appropriate expectation you should have when you are in these different situations with the notion of the absurd always being the background of your thought process when you do this exercise as the mind is slippery and may seek comfort in the absurd at any instance.
Assert Gratitude on the Inevitable Certainty
If not by hope, how do I maintain a certain level of optimism with life you may ask.
Although there are merits to pessimism, a certain degree of optimism is also needed as the balance between the two is what it takes for a healthy state of mind. To achieve this balance, gratitude is suggested as a more sustainable alternative to hope.
With gratitude, you can shift your longing mind to an appreciative mind. The focus is switched from the things that you don’t have to the things that you already have.
This attitude can be seen portrayed at the extreme end by Meursault in the way that he enjoyed life fully when he went to watch a comedy screening with Marie shortly after his mother’s death which might be perceived as a distasteful epicurean endeavour.
The point is that he realised the absurdity of the extended grief for the irreversible circumstances such as the loss of someone you love, hence he continued to live life as it is.
Take Responsibility for Your Life
By liberating yourself from hope, you are taking responsibility for your life at a deeper level. Life fulfilment and achievement do not happen by just hoping for the best.
It takes action to make things happen.
Although hope can be a source of motivation to achieve personal transcendence, for someone who acknowledges the absurd, the question now is how authentic is that motivation derived from hope ccompared to a motivation sufficed by an intentional ownership of one’s own life.
Conclusion
Hope can be hazardous to one’s state of mind when the expectations are not managed righteously.
The Rationalist reasoning might have drawbacks such as the reasoning is limited to the human’s ability to comprehend the phenomenological experience — however, it is contended by Meursault’s character that such reasoning is more reliable compared to a type of hope that is based on irrational conjectures.
Maybe there is a time and place for hope — perhaps for those who believe in an ideal world and those who reject the absurd.
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The Outsider by Albert Camus is one of the ground-breaking modern philosophical novels out there. Plus it’s a relatively easy read for most readers. The theme of the Absurd is portrayed eloquently through Meursault’s character and life events. An excellent entry point if you’re just starting to delve into philosophy.
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