“Absurd” means unreasonable, illogical or inappropriate. A statement such as “I am queen of the universe” is absurd; were I to make such a claim, a listener would probably think I was insane, deluded or attempting to be funny.
On the other hand, absurdity is desirable and even necessary. However logical and and rational we think we are, absurdity will affect us, making us both laugh and think. Scenes and situations which are absurd abound in our dreams. The most dignified among us may dream of being naked in public, though when awake the dreamers are most careful how they present themselves to the outside world.
Philosophers have studied absurdism. One distinguished example is Albert Camus (1913-1960), a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist and political activist. He is best known for his novels The Stranger (1942), The Plague (1947), and The Fall (1956). Camus was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature “for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times.”
In Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, Camus says, “Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.”
Specifically, he defines the human condition as absurd, as the confrontation between man’s desire for significance, meaning and clarity on the one hand—and the silent, cold universe on the other. .
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was among the great writers who influenced Albert Camus. Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, tells a story that is, on the face of it, absurd. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, a travelling salesman, wakes up one morning and finds he has turned into a large insect. At first his thoughts are less about this transformation than about how dreary his life is. He would resign from his job and seek a more interesting one, but his parents and his sister Grete depend on him financially. She is gifted musically, and plays the violin beautifully. Gregor loves to listen to her perform, and aims to save up enough money to send her to a conservatoire. Meanwhile, Gregor has overslept. His manager comes to the house to complain about his failure to report for duty that morning, and about his work generally. Gregor tries to speak from behind his bedroom door in his own defence, but insects tend not to be able to express themselves in terms that humans understand. In further efforts to save his livelihood, he emerges from his bedroom. The manager is horrified by the sight of the insect, and flees.
With the loss of Gregor’s job there is the loss of that family’s main source of income. His father finds a job. One day when he returns from work, sees Gregor is outside his room, and thinks he has attacked his mother. He throws an apple at Gregor which lodges in his body and infects it. The resulting illness eventually causes Gregor’s death.
In an attempt to make ends meet the family take in boarders. While they are present Gregor must be kept out of sight. One evening Grete plays her violin to entertain them. Gregor is unable to resist emerging from his room so he can hear the music more clearly. The boarders see him, and flee.
The family’s poverty is exacerbated. Gregor realises that his parents and Grete resent him and have come to hate him. He dies.
The surviving family find that months of living frugally have enriched them.,and with Gregor out of the way their fortunes improve. Grete recovers her beauty and has a good chance of finding a husband.
The style of the narrative is matter-of-fact and straightforward. Gregor seems no more surprised at waking up as an insect than if he had caught a common cold. He never seeks a reason or explanation for his transformation. Kafka succeeds in making the incredible credible, and this he has in common with other great writers such as Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
Kafka present his novella without explanation or interpretation, and readers are free to take from it what they will. Perhaps it shows how important it is to fit in with the norms of society, and how easily estrangement and resentment can arise.
In writing deploying absurdity readers are not expected to believe that the impossible occurs. Instead they are invited into the writers’ world, which reflects perceives reality in a distorted mirror,