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.