During their discussions, Mersault and Zagreus ponder whether a happy person can truly understand themselves. The inverse, they suggest, is also true: Someone who truly understands themselves can never be happy. This provides the foundation for Mersault’s journey as he tries to find happiness while understanding his identity.

Following his accident, Zagreus has done nothing but think. He is confined to his house with his books, his money, and himself. His life is a relentless pursuit of self-knowledge, framed in the context of his own depression. He is a deeply sad man who frequently considers death by suicide. In this context, Zagreus does not believe that he can ever be happy, but comforts himself with the satisfaction of knowing himself better than most people.

For Zagreus, understanding is a coping mechanism. So long as he believes that he has a greater understanding of his own identity, he gives his life purpose and meaning. At the same time, he weaponizes his misery against the world and assures himself that his lack of happiness has benefited him in some way. In Zagreus’s view, the question of happiness and identity is a zero-sum game: He cannot have one without another.