The Stranger and Seinfeld on absurdism

The Seinfeld episode “The Alternate Side” and The Stranger by Albert Camus are similar because they both display the theme of absurdism. Absurdism is the school of thought that explores the belief that it is absurd to try to find the meaning of life. Absurdists believe that if humans try to find the meaning in anything, they will ultimately fail, because the immense realm of the unknown makes it impossible. In The Stranger, Camus explores the theme of absurdism through the character Meursault. An example of absurdism in The Stranger is when Meursault finds out that his mother has died. Meursault indifferently states, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) Meursault isn't devastated upon hearing the news that his mother died; he can't even remember the date of her death. Meursault deals with his mother's death by telling himself that there is nothing that he could have done about it. He says that it was going to happen eventually anyway. Meursault thinks that it would be crazy for him to attempt to find a meaning for his mothers death, which displays the philosophy of absurdism.

In the Seinfeld episode “The Alternate Side”, the theme of absurdism is also displayed. In the beginning of the episode, one of the characters, Jerry, has his car stolen. He seems moderately upset, but he ends up getting in touch with the person that stole his car. However, instead of fighting for his car back, he merely accepts his unfortunate fate. Jerry allows the person that stole his car to get away, and tells himself that there is nothing that he can do about it. Similarly, in The Stranger, when someone confronts Meursault about his mothers death, he explains, “I thought he was criticizing me for something and I started to explain.” (Camus 14) Meursault knows that it isn't his fault for his mother dying, and he thinks that shouldn't try to find the meaning in it or try to change it. This is similar to Jerry's attitude towards the fact that his car was stolen.

In both the Seinfeld episode “The Alternate Side” and The Stranger by Albert Camus, the themes of absurdism are displayed. Both the characters Meursault and Jerry display absurdist behaviors as they go through loss. In Meursault's situation he experiences the loss is of his mother. As he deals with his loss, Meursault convinces himself that it isn't his fault, so he shouldn’t try to find a meaning for his mother’s death. In Jerry's situation, the loss that he experiences is of his car. As Jerry deals with the fact that his car was stolen, he acts in a similar way to Meursault. He embraces the situation that he is in, instead of trying to change things. Both Meursault and Jerry believe in absurdism: the philosophy that events happen a certain way for a reason, but it is absurd for people to try and find a meaning for them.

Pictures:

http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/seinfeld/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_(novel)