George and Meursault: Two Peas in A Pod

The Stranger by Albert Camus is a widely recognized existentialist novel written in 1942. Then in 1989, the first episode of Jerry Seinfeld's and Larry David's sitcom Seinfeld. However, it is not as widely recognized how evident existentialism is in the script. The Stranger and Seinfeld both explore existentialism through their characters actions and thoughts.
The Stranger, is narrated by M. Merusault, a young man who lives in Algiers, Algeria in the 1940's. When the story begins his mother has just died, but he does not feel excessive amounts of sadness or despair despite the fact that he cared about her; he views her and her death as an excuse, "I asked my boss for two days off and there was no way he was going to refuse me with an excuse like that." Someone is mourning would not be as concerned with work as Meursault seemed to be. This shows that Meursault could be an existentialist because he merely says things as they happen; no one thing is more important than another. This can be seen in Seinfeld as well. George Constanza is short, chubby man in the show. He is often considered an existentialist because something important or concerning could be happening, and will seem to be indifferent and talk about something trivial. In the episode "The Alternate Side," he gets a temporary job parking cars. At the same time he is parking cars on the street his friend, Elaine, another main character, is with her older boyfriend and he faints. George comes into the apartment where Elaine and her unconscious boyfriend are and starts raving about how he his having trouble parking the cars. He does not even acknowledge the ill man lying on the couch right in front of him. This shows his existentialist nature because compared to the situation with Elaine's boyfriend, he is obsessing over a few cars he has to park in the street below. He is obsessing over something relatively trivial compared to the fact that someone close to his friend is in trouble. Similarly, Meursault does have any emotional connection to significant things happening around him. When he is talking about old Salamano and his dog, he simply describes the situation; he never expresses any emotion in his narration, "Then he beats the dog and swears at it. The dog cowers and trails behind." Not once does he ever say that he feels bad for the dog.
There may be no meaning to life. Everything that one does as a human being simply may not matter at all. With that being a possibility, maybe the human rave should go through life as George and Meursault do; just looking out for themselves, void of emotion. However, our human nature is to hope for the best, so as long as there is a possibility that life does matter, we will keep living our lives as if it does.

The Seinfeld

Seinfeld’s “The Alternate Side” contains many characters that can relate to Camus’ character, Meursault. Kramer appeals to the side of Meursault that is concerned only about himself. When Sid, the informal neighborhood valet, leaves Jerry’s keys in the ignition and the car is stolen, Kramer’s sole purpose in talking to the thief is to get his brown gloves back. He does not care about the fact that Jerry no longer has a car, or how much it is going to cost Jerry to pay for Sid’s mistake, Kramer only cares about the things that affect him. Meursault shares this quality. More often than not, he only carries out tasks that benefit him. For example, Meursault will witness the abusive relationship that Raymond has with an ex-girlfriend, but will not testify until asked directly by the police. He does not care enough about the subject because it does not affect him directly. This blatant reluctance the help or care about other people displays the faults that keep Kramer and Meursault from making deeper connections with other people.

Elaine’s 66-year-old boyfriend also relates to Camus’ Meursault. Elaine quickly falls in and out of love with an older and mysterious man; in the midst of breaking up with him, he has a stroke. After a long and tedious break up, Elaine finds that her 66-year-old boyfriend never really cared for her; he used her for his own physical desires. This relationship nearly mirrors the relationship of Meursault and Marie. Throughout their time together, Meursault never once stops to think that what they have is serious. The physical aspect of their relationship is the only aspect that the book highlights. These two men, Meursault and the sleazy 66-year-old man that can’t find a woman his own age, share the quality of detachment that many uncommitted men have.

Sid from Seinfeld shares Meursault’s nonchalant attitude toward life. Although Sid is a lot more talkative than Meursault, he demonstrates a lack of interest in the things going on around him. When going away for a week to visit his nephew, Sid could care less who took his place moving cars on the street. Meursault shows the same disinterest in life that Sid does. Meursault often lets significant events in his life pass right over his head and barely reacts to much of what he is told. Although it can be argued that Sid does care enough to visit his sick nephew, it can also be argued that Meursault cared enough to go to his mother’s funeral. These examples are not quite on the same plane, but both of these characters attempt to assimilate to the cultural normativity that surrounds that, connecting them is a very deep and personal way.   

Seinfeld Meets Camus!

     In "The Alternate Side," an episode from the sitcom Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer drops his groceries while walking by the set of a Woody Allen movie. This makes Woody Allen laugh, so Kramer gets a line in the movie: "These pretzels are making me thirsty!" The movie team is taking advantage of Kramer's clumsiness in order to add a humorous persona to their cast. Kramer is thrilled to have a small part in an important movie even though he is nothing more than an object of amusement. He benefits the movie producers by filling a role yet he is undervalued.

    In Albert Camus's novel The Stranger, Meusrault only becomes friends with his neighbor, Raymond Sintès, because Raymond needs a person to unload his problems on. “Generally speaking, [Raymond's] not very popular. But he often talks to me and sometimes stops by my place for a minute, because I listen to him." Raymond makes Meursault write an aggressive letter to Raymond's cheating mistrss, “one with a punch and also some things in it to make her sorry for what she’s done.” Only after Meursault had finished did Raymond allow them to be "pals." Meursault did not mind writing the letter, but he was still a pawn in Raymond's scheme and Raymond does not appear to appreciate Meursault's kindness during their meeting.

    Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer and The Stranger's Meursault are both being taken advantage of and underappreciated. The characters are requested by someone who selfishly wants to utilize them, Raymond or Woody Allen. Although Meursault and Kramer are important and doing something kind, they are not respected. However, they are both too laid back to mind, and therefore are easy targets for their superiors.

Kandinsky, Camus, and Disconnection

Albert Camus’s The Stranger is a fictionalized analogy of absurdism as told through the narrative of the disinterested Meursault, the personification of absurdist philosophy. Weiches Hart is a painting by renowned Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, who is credited with pioneering the abstract art movement. Although the two works may initially appear disparate, after more attentive consideration one can discern a significant commonality between Weiches Hart and The Stranger: the theme of dissociation.

Weiches Hart has two distinct components: the dark, ominous pillar to the left of the painting and the amalgam of warm-toned geometric shapes to the pillar’s right. The segregation of the painting’s key components is strikingly discordant. Time and time again, Meursault has also demonstrated a peculiar disconnect: a disunity between his faculties of empathy and socialization. For example, as Meursault realizes he does not know the precise day his mother passed away, he off-handedly comments “that doesn’t mean anything.” Meursault’s indifference is further evidenced by his interactions with Marie, his lover. When Marie asked Meursault if he loved her, he plainly responds with “it didn't mean anything but that [he] didn't think so.”

While the two pieces explore a shared theme, each work’s respective creators chose to illustrate the topic of severance through different means: Kandinsky with visual representations, and Camus with Meursault’s relationships. Kandinsky’s varied use of color and outlines to differentiate the two halves of his painting is both aesthetically pleasing and effective. The dark, cool-toned hues of the connected shapes of the left starkly contrast with the playful, warm-toned hues denoting the fusion of geometric shapes of the right. Camus depicts Meursault’s detachment through his lack of concern for his family, friends, and significant others. Meursault’s inability to form emotional connections is a distinctive part of his personality and has come to characterize absurdist notions.

Kramer and Meursault, How Similar are they Really?

In the hit tv show Seinfeld, Kramer seems very detached from reality at some points. He is always worried about what seems like the wrong thing. For example, in the episode, when Seinfeld’s car gets stolen, and instead of worrying about how he is going to help to get it back, Kramer talks to the thief and asks him to locate his brown gloves in the compartment. The very last scene of the show shows Kramer, with his brown gloves, talking to Seinfeld. This implies that Kramer saw the car thief, got his gloves, but did not help Seinfeld get the car back, again displaying his lack of interest in what most people would care about. Another example of Kramer’s detachment is when Owen March is having a stroke on the couch, and the ambulance can not get into the apartment. When he walks in, instead of being worried about whether or not Owen is ok, as a stroke is a very serious thing, he is worried that the movie he has his line in has stopped production because of the traffic, and he will not get to say his line. These examples of detachment are reminiscent of Meursault's detachment from reality.

Meursault, although not always worried about the wrong thing, can be very detached from reality. When his mother dies, he does not seem to care at all. He even says on the first page “Manan died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” (1) He shows no emotion that the woman who raised him, and who he lived with for a very long time, has passed away. In fact, he is more preoccupied with what day she died on, as after he read the telegram saying his mother had died, he said “That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.” (1) What should be a major event in his life is very insignificant to him, and this seems to be a trend throughout the novel.

When Meursault’s girlfriend at the time, Marie, comes over and asks him to marry her, his response is: “I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.” (84) Marriage is a major event in anyone’s life, and Meursault does not care at all. In fact, it seems as though he could care less. This lack of interest proposal is also a testament to detachment to reality. When asked if he loves her, he goes as far to say that he does not. He is so indifferent to all major events that happen to him. This is because things that would be very important to most people simply do not interest him. This plays on the themes of nihilism in the novels without a doubt, as he feels like life and religion is pointless.

Meursault and Kramer's affliction

Meursault, in Albert Camus's The Stranger, is similar to Kramer from season three, episode ten “The Alternate Side” of the popular TV show Seinfeld. Both characters words and actions create an impression of absurdism in the minds of the reader or viewer. Absurdism is when a person doesn’t believe there is a meaning to anything; however, participates in the events of life for their own fulfillment. With the absurdist view of life comes a selfish take on reality, people tend to worry about themselves and how events pertain to them then the overall problem. Kramer and Meursault are unique characters; however, their absurdist view on life makes them similar.

Events throughout both stories create the impression that Meursault and Kramer are absurdists in the reader or viewers mind. Meursault shows no sign of remorse after his mother has passed; instead, he comments on how tired he is and how he would like to take a nap. If is perfectly natural for Meursault that his “physical needs often got in the way of his feelings” (Camus 64). This take on life fully represents the absurdist mindset because of how selfish it is. Kramer, likewise, demonstrates a common attribute when Seinfeld’s car is stolen and instead of fretting the loss of Seinfeld’s car, he cares about the gloves that he left in the glove compartment. Both exhibit highly selfish attitudes towards life. Kramer and Meursault also exhibit indifference toward other peoples ideas or problems. Kramer demonstrates this when he barges into Seinfeld’s apartment after Owen Marks has had a stroke. Marks is lying on the couch and being transferred to a stretcher by paramedics and not once does Kramer comment on Marks condition, instead he speaks to George about his appalling ability to move cars and the offense woody allen had taken to it. Similar to the level of indifference of Kramer, Meursault's take on marriage is shocking, both to the reader and to the characters in the book. When Marie asks Meursault if he loves her, his response was no; however, when Marie asks if he would like to marry her his response was that marriage “didn’t really matter and that if she wanted to, we could get married”(Camus 41) despite not loving her. To Kramer and Meursault ideas that are incredibly important to most people (like well being or marriage) do not mean as much, they choose to worry about themselves instead.

Kramer and Meursault are unique characters that demonstrate an absurdist attitude on life. Their actions are selfish and indifferent to the likes of other characters and events around them; however, they are still both highly functioning characters that participate in all the joys in life, for their own benefit. Although there are also many differences between the two stories, the absurdist tendencies of Kramer and Meursault is an irrefutable connection between Seinfeld and The Stranger.

Cyclical Circles

           Kandinsky’s abstract work of concentric circles perfectly captures the cycles of revenge highlighted in Alexie’s Flight. Death follows in the brutal wake of revenge. Throughout all his transformations, Zits becomes more enlightened about the importance of human life. He slowly begins to grasp the concept of revenge and comprehends the vicious cycle of murder and revenge. There are many parallels between the cycle explored in Flight and Kandinsky's art. 

          Every circle in the painting is different in its own unique way, as are the intricate never-ending revenge and death circles Zits discovers throughout the novel. His own cycle had to do with the death of his mother. Out for blood and under the false assumption that more casualties could bring his parents back, Zits shot up a bank full of innocent people. At first liberated, Zits in time regrets his decision as he experiences life as other men and witnesses their circles of death and revenge as his own. Kandinsky’s circles are similar in nature yet completely unrelated as are each of the cycles Zits lives through. 

            Circles have no clear beginning or end point. Whether a painting or murder for revenge, these circles are the same in their meaning. The circles continue to exist for all eternity unless an extreme effort is taken to break them. Circles are strong and difficult to break apart. It took everything in Zits’s power as Gus to destroy the lust for revenge in the elderly Indian hunter. Putting the thoughts of the old man aside and taking over control of his borrowed body, Zits was able to break the cycle and save a younger soldier and Indian boy. One circle in Kandinsky’s painting is blurred and almost unrecognizable. This circle correlates to Zits’s cycle as Gus. All the other circles remain unbroken and exist as if untouched in the painting and in the novel. 

Seinfeld and the Stranger?

The television show Seinfeld is rarely considered a philosophical work, but like more traditionally philosophical works like The Stranger by Albert Camus, Seinfeld subtly explores the absurdity and pointlessness of life.
In both The Stranger and Seinfeld, the main characters act absurdly. In The Stranger, Meursault, the main character, goes to his mother's funeral but feels nothing.

“As I was waking up, it came to me why my boss had seemed annoyed when I asked him for two days off: today is Saturday. I’d sort of forgotten, but as I was getting up, it came to me. And, naturally, my boss thought about the fact that I’d be getting four days’ vacation that way, including Sunday, and he couldn’t have been happy about that. But, in the first place, it isn’t my fault if they buried Maman yesterday instead of today” (38)

Less than twenty four hours after he has finished burying his mother in sweltering heat, the only thing on his mind is how his boss will react to his absence from work. This mannerism of Meursault's comes off as absurd, robotic, and distant. From the outsider's perspective he comes off as insane. He can't give an ounce of importance to the death of the person that raised him, but he is legitimately concerned about how his boss will react to his prolonged absence! In the Seinfeld episode “The Alternate Side”,the characters Elaine, Kramer, and Jerry Seinfeld are waiting for an ambulance, but rather than take care of the ailing man, they are discussing the unconscious man's eyebrows. The man is over 60 years old and he suffered a stroke while on a date with Elaine. At first the three friends try to treat him, but they soon give up and have a normal conversation as if nothing were wrong. When Seinfeld asks Elaine whether she ever considered telling the man about his eyebrows, she responds by saying along the lines of "I meant to, but after all it is a touchy subject." It is not just her response that is absurd, but the situation as a whole. In their place, the average pair of friends would either be panicking or at the very least, be maintaining some kind of decorum and respect. 

The meaning of life (or the lack thereof) is explored by Monsieur Pérez and George Costanza who both perform purposeless, pointless tasks in The Stranger and Seinfeld respectively. Monsieur Pérez is a minor character who was Maman's boyfriend. He joins Meursault and a couple others to go and bury Maman. “It was then that I noticed that Pérez had a slight limp. Little by little, the hearse was picking up speed and the old man was losing ground.” (33) The weather is torrid, the man is old, weary, and slightly crippled but he perseveres and joins them to bury Maman. Except he never fully joins them. Pérez works much harder than the others and takes numerous shortcuts to keep pace with the hearse, but every time he catches up, he falls behind again. There is no respite, and no fruit for his labor. Through Pérez, Camus paints life to be a miserable existence.  Similarly in “The Alternate Side”, George Costanza, one of Jerry's best friends, gets a seemingly easy job that guarantees him easy money but he ends up miserable too. He'll earn thousands of dollars from just parking cars, but it proves to be too much for him. He becomes extremely irritated and ends up costing Seinfeld thousands of dollars, disappointing his idol Woody Allen, and delaying the arrival of an ambulance.

Although characters in Seinfeld have absurd moments, it would be inaccurate to state that those characters are all modern day "Meursaults" because they can distinguish between right and wrong and have some sense of a moral compass.

Seinfeld and The Stranger (The Truth)

Albert Camus’s The Stranger and an episode of Seinfeld are as different as it gets for many people. However, they are also similar in many ways. During the Seinfeld episode Jerry and Elaine show how disconnected they are from society. Elaine’s boyfriend suffered a stroke. While Jerry and Elaine were waiting for an ambulance they were talking about Elaine’s boyfriend’s eyebrows. They were completely unaware of the fact that they should care about the man passed out on the couch. Meursault is also disconnected from society. Often he eats alone at Celeste’s restaurant and ponders life. “I smoked a couple of cigarettes, went inside to get a piece of chocolate, and went back to the window to eat it. Soon after that, the sky grew dark and I thought we were in for a summer storm. Gradually, though, it cleared up again. But the passing clouds had left a hint of rain hanging over the street, which made it look darker. I sat there for a long time and watched the sky.”

            In the Seinfeld episode George crashes Jerry’s car. He was not able to perform the simple task of driving a car across the street. In The Stranger, Raymond is not able to write a letter to his girlfriend.  “But Raymond told me he didn’t think he could write the kind of letter it would take and that he’d thought of asking me to write it for him. Since I didn’t say anything, he asked if I’d mind doing it right then and I said no.” In both cases characters have a disconnect from society because they cannot perform simple tasks.

            Jerry also has a disconnect from society. He did not realize that he was part of a community. When Elaine says she would be ostracized from the community Jerry does not realize that there is a community. Meursault realizes that there is a community, however he chooses not to be a part of it. Seinfeld and The Stranger have very little in common, however they both have characters that are disconnected from society.  

Absurdism In Media And Literature

Seinfeld and The Stranger, by Albert Camus, are similar in that they share the mutual theme of absurdism. Absurdism challenges the age old question, “what is the meaning of life”, and essentially defies it. It states that there is no inherent meaning to life, and that the act of trying to find meaning is absurd and contradictory in itself, and we as humans, have to realize that and live our lives on accepting that fact. This theme is relevant in Seinfeld, as the show is literally about nothing, and illustrates the endless and pointless nature of life. The main characters in Seinfeld seem to accept that life is void, yet they still go on with their lives, with no forward progression throughout the series. Similarly, in The Stranger, the main character, Meursault, goes through life with no real goals or ambitions, and lets the world come to him. Even when something as significant as his mother’s death occurs, he remains uncaring and detached. Exemplified when he states, “After the funeral, though, the case will be closed and everything will have more official feel to it” (Camus 2), Meursault shows his lack of emotion, and views the loss of his mother with the same impartial manner as with everything else in his life.

The Seinfeld episode, “The Alternate Side”, parallels The Stranger, as both demonstrate how absurdism is employed in the two works. In the episode, one of the main characters, Jerry, gets his car stolen by an unknown theft. Instead of being furiously or angry, Jerry responds by simply accepting that his car is gone and that he now needs a new one. In addition, Jerry’s friend, Kramer, is solely worried about his gloves that were left in the stolen car, disregarding entirely that his friends car was stolen. In another situation in the episode, Kramer explains to his friends that he was fired from his role in a movie after accidently impaling the director, ignoring the fact that he could have seriously injured him, because he was too focused wallowing over his own personal travesties. Meursault reacts to his mother’s death in a similar way, acknowledging that it occurred and still moves on from it. Meursault shows how impartial he is to the situation when he states during his mothers funeral,  “I knew I was going to go to bed and sleep for twelve hours” (Camus 45). He does not feel sadness or grief, as most would in such a traumatic situation, and instead focuses on the smaller, more frivolous things.

In both The Stranger and Seinfeld, a significant, life changing event ensues, yet all of the characters remain stagnant and unaffected. When Meursault’s mother dies, he embraces the fact and continues on living, just as Jerry does when his car is stolen. The characters responses to these situations encompass the essence of absurdism, in that life is pointless, and it is important to accept that and move on with life, for trying to find meaning in a meaningless world is conflicting and absurd in itself.

Lucifer the Stranger

Jackson Pollock's "Lucifer" is similar to The Stranger by Albert Camus because both of these works have hidden meaning. While Pollock's painting and Camus's novel may not be obviously similar, they both make whoever is experiencing the art think about what meaning is beneath the surface. Pollock's abstract style is distinct, and characterized by splatters. While making his paintings, Pollock would move around the canvas and brandish his brushes, doing a sort of dance. The movement and beauty in the creation of Pollock's art is not evident after one look at his painting. After a first glance, "Lucifer" looks like a hastily created mess. However, when examined more carefully, the observer realizes that there are many layers of paint. Some are splattered, some are drizzled, and the colors are different yet complementary.

The Stranger also has meaning beyond what Camus's words convey. For example, when Meursault and Raymond encounter the Arabs on the beach, Meursault observes that "the blazing sand" looks "red" to him now (Camus 106). Camus mentions nothing about Meursault's emotional state, or how he feels about the impending confrontation with the Arabs. However, the reader can infer that Meursault is riled up, since he is literally seeing red. Another example of Camus hiding a deeper meaning behind his words is when Meursault is deciding whether he should stay in the hot sun or climb the stairs up to the women. Eventually, Meursault proclaims that "to stay or to go" amounts to "the same thing" (Camus 112). While this statement may not seem like much, it is making a philosophical comment. Both of the choices lead to personal discomfort for Meursault, the only thing he desires to avoid. By saying that those two choices are the same thing because they will bring him discomfort, he takes a consideration for consequences and the feelings of others out of the picture. Meursault demonstrates what it means to be an existentialist, all without mentioning the word philosophy. 

While Pollock's "Lucifer" and Camus's The Stranger may be from two completely different genres, they are both masterful examples of hiding meaning beneath the surface of a work of art. When examined carefully, both works reveal another dimension of beauty and depth. 

Seinfeld and The Stranger: The Absurd

Albert Camus's The Stranger and the TV show Seinfeld are two very different mediums. One is a literary work written by an Albanian in the 1940s, while the other is a popular sitcom written by a comedian. Yet, despite their different settings and premises, these two stories both share a common theme of the philosophy of absurdism. Absurdism is the belief that human beings live life in a meaningless world, and that humans should accept that they are living in this meaningless world. Absurdly, humans should continue on living, and try to create their own meaning within the meaningless of life. This philosophy is explored several times within The Stranger and the Seinfeld episode titled “The Alternate Side”.

The Stranger begins with the death of Meursault's mother. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything.” (Camus 16). These first words set the tone for the novel and show Meursault’s indifference to the world around him. For most people, this would be a highly traumatic event, but instead Meursault continues his life as if nothing ever happened. Meursault can be so nonchalant about his mother’s death because it has no significance to him, and nothing has changed in his life. In fact, Meursault finds the weather much more interesting than his mother’s funeral. For an absurdist, this would make perfect sense, because the loss of one life would not affect the universe as a whole, nor bring any meaning to one’s life. After forming a bond with Raymond, a man in a former abusive relationship, Meursault is put in a precarious situation in where Arabs attack him. These Arabs are the brothers of Raymond’s former mistress and hold quite a grudge against Raymond. In self-defense, Meursault is forced to fight back and shoot the man. However, even after realizing that the Arab is dead, Meursault shoots him four more times. “Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” Meursault’s reasons for shooting into a dead body are unclear, and seem to border on the absurd. There was no reason or rational explanation for Meursault to keep firing at the Arab, and this action emphasizes the meaningless of life.

In “The Alternate Side”, Jerry has his car stolen. Instead of becoming furious, Jerry has a rational conversation with the thief by calling him on the car phone. Jerry realizes that there is nothing he can do to make the thief return the car, and that there is no use in being angry with him. This situation in which Jerry is completely helpless showcases the futility and meaninglessness of life, and how there is no point in becoming angry over something that he cannot control. This is similar to Meursault’s nonchalant reaction towards his mother’s death, as in both cases, they are both powerless to change the situation, so they don’t let the situation change them. In both “The Alternate Side” and in The Stranger, absurdism is a major theme that brings these two stories together. For Meursault, the death of his mother hardly affects him, and he shot the Arab man repeatedly after he was already dead for no tangible reason. For Jerry, he does not even file a police report or get mad at the thief, instead having a civil conversation and telling him to keep the car safe.

The Stranger and Seinfeld-Similarities Between an Absurdist and a Comedy

 In The Stranger, Mersault does not befriend many people. Mersault is usually indifferent towards of the people he meets. An example of this is when Mersault meets Raymond. Raymond asks Mersault if Mersault would like to be friends with Raymond, but Mersault seemed pretty indifferent about it all. “I didn’t mind being his pal, and he seemed set on it”(Camus 69). It is clear that Mersault is agreeing to be friends with Raymond only because Raymond is dead set on it. Mersault would not be friends with Raymond if Mersault had to put in any effort. Although it may appear that Mersault only feels this way on a singular occasion; he does it again. “ I didn’t say anything, and he asked me again if I wanted to be pals. I said it was fine with me” (Camus 62-63). Mersault does not especially like meeting new people, as is clear when he avoids conversation on the train and when he thinks being someone’s friend is “fine.” However, Mersault is not alone in this feeling. Mersault shares this feeling towards people with Jerry and Elaine from Seinfeld. In the episode, titled “The Alternate Side,” Jerry tells his friend Elaine that he hates everybody. In addition to this, Elaine said that her boyfriend is “okay.” Elaine is indifferent about her boyfriend, and Jerry simply does not like people. This is incredibly similar to how Mersault is indifferent about becoming friends with Raymond, but for the most part despises meeting new people.

    Another connection between The Stranger and Seinfeld is in both stories a person accepts an offer to help an acquaintance, but the situation ends up turning into a mess. In The Stranger, Mersault accepts Raymond’s request to help write a letter to Raymond’s mistress. “ Since I didn’t say anything, he asked if I’d mind doing it right then and I said no” (Camus 68). Mersault ends up writing a well written letter to the mistress, but when the mistress returns there is an enormous conflict. Raymond hits his mistress, and then in return is hit by the police. Similar to this, in Seinfeld George decides to help park cars, but he ends up causing a commotion. He blocks the roads, and as a result the paramedics to not reach Owen in time. This causes Owen to suffer long term injuries. In both Seinfeld and The Stranger, the characters are only hoping to help, but they both end up causing long term injuries whether physical or mental.

    The final similarity that The Stranger and Seinfeld share is that in both cases a man in a relationship does not care much about the woman in the relationship, and essentially uses her for sex. In The Stranger, Mersault’s girlfriend (Marie) loves Mersault dearly, but Mersault does not have the same affection for Marie. “A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so.” Once again, the reader is shown how Mersault is indifferent even when it comes to those closest to him. Marie is incredibly hurt by this, but decides not to show it. In Seinfeld, Owen admits that he was using Elaine for sex. Elaine acts like she does not care, but it is unclear how she truly feels about it. In both stories, the man does not value his relationship with his girlfriend, but decides to instead use her for sex. In addition to this, the woman in either of the two stories attempts to not show her discomfort, but may be emotionally and mentally hurting.  

Violent Euphoria

Violent Euphoria

The Relationship Between Albert Camus's The Stranger and Edvard Munch's The Scream

A sense of madness overtakes Meursault the moment before he becomes a murderer. With his hand on the trigger of his gun, Meursault's awareness of his surroundings heighten to the point that even the tiniest drop of sweat becomes a waterfall, and a single ray of sunlight becomes an inferno. And in that second that the bullet is fired, "It [seems] as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire” (Camus 69). Meursault's world is dyed blood-red as he "[knocks] four quick times on the door of unhappiness" (Camus 69).

Edvard Munch seeks to capture this moment of twisted rhapsody through his famed painting The Scream. There are four different versions of this composition, which depict an androgynous figure on a bridge with an anguished expression being approached by two shady figures from behind, all against a vivid red-orange sky that serves as a backdrop. Munch also hand-painted a poem onto the frame of the 1985 pastel version of The Scream, describing his inspiration for the painting:

“I was walking along the road with two Friends / the Sun was setting – The Sky turned a bloody red / And I felt a whiff of Melancholy – I stood / Still, deathly tired – over the blue-black / Fjord and City hung Blood and Tongues of Fire / My Friends walked on – I remained behind / – shivering with Anxiety – I felt the great Scream in Nature – EM.”

Although there had been a sense of peace throughout the whole day, the insanity of the sun and the universe overtakes Meursault's sense of reason at the exact moment when he pulls the trigger, and, in a matter of seconds, Meursault breaks the harmony of reality. It is as if an infinite, blood-red shriek pierces through the air, stabbing into every existing being, and the world is frozen in a neverending, violent euphoria. Somewhere faraway, a man is screaming on a bridge, never to escape the instant that the illusion of peace is shattered.

So, what does 'The Scream' mean?

The Scream Wikipedia Page

The Perpetual Social Vortex

Since I was about six years of age, being social and interacting with other people somehow went astray from “the golden rule.” Some kids developed poor attitudes, others engaged in bullying for a variety of reasons, but for the most part the other pressures in life that begin to develop following kindergarden, like achieving hard marks in school, began to weigh on my colleagues and myself. Some people naturally had better tools as far as managing stress was concerned, but others coped with it in negative ways. It’s a fact of life. Often times, the poor attitudes, stress, and bad vibes that people impose on themselves and others, affect us individually. The advice that my father consistently and constantly gave me came from his father and it was “don’t get sucked into the vortex.” The meaning of this statement was pretty straightforward: don’t let peoples bad vibes and actions pull you into their bullshit, by staying out of the way. This quote relates directly to the Stranger and the season three episode of Seinfeld, as the negative actions of other characters (George and Raymond,) pull the main characters ( Meursault and Jerry,) into situations that they would otherwise have not been a part of.

In this episode of Seinfeld, there is a gentleman in the neighborhood who assumed an occupation in which he moved the other residents cars in order to keep them from receiving tickets. This gentleman decides to go on vacation and one of Jerry’s friends agrees to fill in for him in his absence. Long story short, his friend ends up crashing all of the cars as a result of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of them. He also manages to delay an ambulance from reaching a man suffering from a stroke, and costs Jerry insurance money because he trusted him to drive his car. Jerry trusted his unorganized and inexperienced friend to park his car along along with 50 others, and as a result he lost money. He was sucked into the vortex that George had created by volunteering for such an arduous task, and as a result, Jerry ended up footing a few grand for damages to his car. In the Stranger, the main character Meursault befriends a man named Raymond. Raymond had an abusive relationship with a women who subsequently had violent Arab relatives. After forming a bond with Raymond, to the point that they vacation with one another on the beach, he is put in a precarious situation with said Arabs, that ends with him shooting one of them in self defense. The way that he describes himself committing the act is through another medium, when he states “the trigger gave.” Raymond’s past was as transparent to Meursault as it was checkered. By getting so deeply involved with Raymond, Meursault ended up taking another man's life, an action that he would not have committed had he stayed away from a risky friendship. He put himself in harms way by associating with a person whose life was in disarray and riddled with violence and unhealthy relationships. Prior to the murder, Meursault thought to himself, “The sun glinted off of Raymond’s gun as he handed it to me.” This quote is symbolic of the change that Meursault's association with Raymond changed his life. Raymond handed him the gun that was used to kill, just as the friendship that the two of them forged put Meursault in the situation in which committing murder was a necessity. Similarly. in Seinfeld, Jerry choosing to involve himself with George’s occupation of parking cars, ended with him owing thousands of dollars. In the Stranger, by developing a friendship with Raymond, Meursault committed murder. Both men allowed the actions of others to dictate their futures and consequences, and they were sucked into the vortex of the individuals they chose to associate with.

Human beings by nature are social creatures. In a perfect world, social interactions would not be dictated by stress and outside influences, but it’s a fact of life that they are. Often times, the decisions and social choices that we as people make determine our own futures. In the case of Meursault in A Stranger and Jerry in Seinfeld, both mens futures were affected by the actions of the people they chose to associate with. They were both sucked into their own respective vortexes.

The Absurdity of Life: Rainbow Gunshot and The Stranger

AMVPlaya’s abstract piece of art Rainbow Gunshot is representative of many of the issues in The Stranger. Albert Camus, the author of The Stranger is an absurdist. He believes that life is absurd, and humans must live in spite of that. The colors in Rainbow Gunshot that surround a singular bullet create an irony that exemplifies Camus’s belief in absurdism, and plays with the mind about the beauty of a rainbow, and the horrors of a bullet. Rainbow Gunshot also relates to Meursault killing the arab man. Rainbow Gunshot and The Stranger are very similar in the issues they represent, and they complement each other nicely.

Rainbow Gunshot is absurd. The bright and vibrant colors contrast with the bullet in the center to create an ironic image. It is absurd because it makes death seem colorful, bright, and happy when in reality it is none of those things. Camus believes that life is absurd also. However he believes that we must live in spite of that fact. This can be seen in Meursault’s view of marriage. Mary asks him if he will marry her, and he simply says if she wants. Marrage should be an important milestone in life, but Meursault does not belive it is important because in the grand scheme of life it will not matter. Rainbow Gunshot and The Stranger also deal with death in a similar manner.

Rainbow Gunshot frames death in an almost beautiful way. By surrounding the bullet in the center with an exotic mashing of colors, the bullet almost looses its horrible conotation. The colors surround the bullet in such a way that it makes death seem easier to cope with, when in reality death is the ultimate tragedy.The Stranger deals with death in a similar manner. Meursault kills the arab man that was fighting with Reymond, yet he is remorseless. Camus uses the brightness of the sun to enhance the reader’s image of the scene, much like the plethora of colors seen in Rainbow Gunshot. Also, both The Stranger and Rainbow Gunshot exemplify death as good. Because Camus is an Absurdist, he doesn’t believe death is bad. The colors of the picture also show death as beautiful, not as horrible.

The Stranger and Seinfeld: Absurdism

Albert Camus’s The Stranger shares many themes and events with the popular American TV show Seinfeld, specifically the episode entitled “The Alternate Side.” Both these stories revolve around the lives of two fairly average men living their lives. In the beginning of The Stranger the protagonist, Meursault, deals with the loss of his mother. In “The Alternate Side,” Jerry has his car stolen and is forced to face the repercussions of renting a car. Both Jerry and Meursault show several attributes of an absurdist after these fairly major events occur in their lives. Meursault hardly seems to grieve after the loss of his mother and simply continues to live his life as if nothing has ever happened. “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday” (Camus 13). This emotionless first line of the story sets the tone and conveys the feeling that Meursault does not care about life or death. Similarly, Jerry hardly reacts after he figures out his car is stolen and contacts the thief. Both characters experience rough events and are able to continue their normal lives without grieving, in Meursault's case, or becoming furious in Jerry’s. 
After Meursault confronts the Arabs on the beach with his friends, Mason and Raymond, he goes back out to the beach a second time. On this second trip he spots another Arab who attacks him. This time Meursault is forced to fight back and shoots the man. After recognizing the Arab man is dead, Meursault shoots the him four more times. “Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness” (Camus 79) Meursault's comparison of death to simple unhappiness goes back to the idea of absurdism and the theory that life as we know has no meaning. The idea here can also be traced back to Jerry’s almost emotionless state after he realizes that his car is stolen.

In both the connections drawn between The Stranger and the “The Alternate Side,” the presence of absurdism brings them together. The death of Maman for Meursault should theoretically be a major factor in his life, but hardly seems to affect him. Jerry car is stolen, and he does not even file a police report, let alone try and track down the thief. Ultimately without any meaning in the lives of Meursault and Jerry both characters are not changed after critical events in their life times.  

The Stranger and Seinfeld

Camus's The Stranger and Seinfeld do not share many similarities. One is television program from the early 1990s and one is a prominent liters work from the 1940s. Seinfeld is a comedy about a group of friends in New York City, while The Stranger is about a man living in French Africa. These works were not intended to be similar, nor would I say that Sienfeld was at all influenced by The Stranger. However, by benefit of human nature, some of the actions in these stories share some similarities. While, on their faces, these stories do not seem inherently similar, they both deal with some of the same ideas.

The first similarity is one of the philosophy of absurdism. Absurdism is the belief that it is impossible to find meaning in life; it’s best just to roll with life’s punches. In the Seinfeld episode “The Alternate Side,” Seinfeld calls his car phone after his car is stolen. He proceeds to have a contemptuous, but civil, conversation with the thief. Seinfeld recognizes that, like how there is use in getting worked up about a meaningless life, there is no use in becoming angry with the thief. In both cases, the observer has no control over their future, and it is therefore illogical to be angry. In The Stranger, Meursault goes through life in much the same way. Meursault isn’t even distressed about the death of his mother, narrating: “It occurred to  me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work and that, really, nothing had changed.” (Camus 54) Now, there is a clear difference between losing a mother and a car, but the characters’ reactions are the same. These absurdist beliefs come into play in both of these stories because they are so common in human nature. Absurdism is just a fact of life.

The second similarity is between the way the characters George and Raymond deal with the issues presented to them in their respective stories. Both characters are presented with stressful situations. George gets in over his head parking cars, while Raymond gets in over his head with some Arab mobsters, of this, Meursault writes: "He's been followed all day by a group of Arabs, one of whom had been the brother of his former mistress." Both characters rely on their friends, Kramer and Jerry in George’s case, and Meursault in Raymond’s. However, all the friends wind up losing, Kramer loses a role in a Woody Allen movie, Jerry’s rental car is in an accident, and Meursault winds up shooting one of the Arabs. In both cases, the characters would have been better off not helping their friends. I feel like a lot of people have had similar experiences, yet people still help their friends. Seinfeld and The Stranger both play at the way we help our friends, often at our own expense.

Interpreting The Stranger Through Jackson Pollock's Untitled

Jackson Pollock’s Untitled and Albert Camus’s The Stranger have multiple connections. Jackson Pollock’s abstract painting is a plethora of red and black lines and curves with varying thicknesses and formulated shapes. Camus’s The Stranger, so far, is about the daily life on Monsieur Meursault after his mother’s death. Both The Stranger and Untitled can be connected and interpreted from many perspectives.

Jackson Pollock's Untitled

Pollock’s Untitled connects with The Stranger in multiple ways, especially Chapter 6. This point in The Stranger is when Meursault kills the Arab “leader” at the beach with Raymond’s gun after the first fight between the Arabs and Masson, Raymond, and Meursault. More obviously, in Untitled, the bloodshed through the fight until Meursault pulling the trigger can be seen throughout Pollock’s painting. Another connection could be the three faint figures that can be seen standing at an unidentified place (could be the beach) with the sun blazing in the background. For example, “But at the same time I noticed, at the far end of the beach and a long way from us, two Arabs in blue overalls coming in our direction. I looked at Raymond and he said, “It’s him,” Untitled could be Raymond, Masson, and Meursault noticing the three Arabs in the distance on the beach (Camus 72). The red could represent either death or bloodshed from fighting. In addition, the three guys could either represent the three Arab men, or Masson, Raymond, and Meursault. In addition to this scene from Chapter 6, the black circle around one of the figures could be Meursault’s target since the story is from his perspective, “If there’s any trouble, Masson, you take the other one. I’ll take care of my man. Meursault, if another one shows up, he’s yours,” and the figure with the red paint splatter on his head could be the Arab man Meursault killed at the end (Camus 72).

Overall, Pollock’s Untitled and Camus’s The Stranger can be connected in multiples ways when the viewer delves deep into both the story and the painting. That is how many paintings and other art pieces are made. The paintings may be painted to express one thing, but it is left to the viewer to interpret and connect it to something else in the future.