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.

Meursault's Orchid

Orchid Surprise by Nancy Eckels relates to Albert Camus's “The Stranger” in many ways. The color scheme of the painting is representative of Meursault's life, an orange canvas riddles with darks and lights. The monotonous quality of the canvas relates to Meursault's emptiness that has been conveyed over the first six chapters of “The Stranger.” Meursault's life is fairly boring as the author describes it, lacking emotional substance. Mersault is not a character who the reader sympathises with, especially after he agrees to write the letter to Raymonds mistress. It seems as though Meursault will do just about anything to become someone’s “pal.” Meursault says that he “didn’t mind being called his pal.” (Camus 47)

In chapter six of the novel, Meursault decides to shoot one of the Arabs who has returned to the beach after the confrontation between Raymond and his mistress’ brother. The darkness on the painting represents the darkness within Meursault. While Meursault may appear to be just a social recluse with a strange personality, he is evidently an incredibly complex character that has something within him that is troubling. Meursault’s darkness has developed throughout the novel and has led to the death of one man so far. Meursault is a dangerous man who lives under the camouflage of dullness.

Finally, the light of the painting represents the good side of Meursault, though far less prominent in the life of Meursault than other characters in fiction. After Meursault shoots the Arab, Meursault describes how shooting the Arab was like “knocking on the door of unhappiness” (Camus 77) thus signifying that Meursault is not just a psychopathic murderer, as he realizes what he is doing is wrong and that it makes him feel bad. Meursault is trying to find the good within him however he is often trapped in the darkness, represented by the proportions of color on the painting.

Classic Literature + Classic Television = Classic Connections

          In The Stranger, Monsieur Meursault deals with the loss of his mother in the beginning of the story. One would expect the passing of Meursault’s mother to be a tragic and distressing time in his life, yet he does not appear to be in a deep state of mourning. He travels to where his mother was living in a group home, attends her viewing and funeral, and goes home where he acts as if nothing has changed. There is no gaping hole in his life where his mother used to be, and he seems oddly accepting of the situation. In the Seinfeld episode, Jerry has his car stolen from in front of his apartment building. One would think that Jerry would be distraught over discovering that his car is gone and that he would work tirelessly to track down the person that stole it. That is not the case, however. Instead, he calls the phone in his car, speaks to the man behind the wheel who stole it, but does not repetitively beg and plead for his car to be brought back or threaten to call the police. Strangely enough, Jerry hangs up the phone and ends up using a rental car instead of finding his original car. One would believe that both Meursault and Jerry would be distressed over the chaotic events that they both encountered. But yet, just as Meursault is detached from the death of his mother, Jerry is detached from the event of his car being stolen.


          Raymond Sintés, one of the people that Meursault befriends in The Stranger is not a righteous man. In Chapter Four, Meursault describes a scene involving his friend, Raymond: “There were some thuds and the woman screamed, but in such a terrifying way that the landing immediately filled with people. Marie and I went to see, too. The woman was still shrieking and Raymond was still hitting her” (Camus 80). Raymond has a goal in mind to teach the women that “mistreat” him lessons, as he was doing in this quotation. He behaves maliciously towards women as if he has to prove his dominance. This only creates additional trouble for Raymond from the police, neighbors, and family members of his victims. George, a character in “The Alternate Side,” decides he wants to temporarily take a job moving and parking cars in his neighborhood. He accepts the position to attempt to prove to himself and his friends that he can perform a job successfully. Not soon after beginning his seemingly simple new job, however, George experiences a few difficulties. He crashes cars, leaves them running, causes accidents, prevents emergency personnel from reaching Jerry’s apartment, and even delays the filming of a Woody Allen movie. Raymond and George are both on missions to prove different points; Raymond wants to prove his male superiority over women, and George wants to prove that he can execute a job efficiently. Nonetheless, the rash decisions of the two men wanting to validate their respective objectives lead to more complications for each over time. The two would have experienced less difficulties had they not taken on the unconventional roles to begin with.


          The relationship between Marie and Meursault in The Stranger is peculiar. It appears that Marie values the relationship to a greater extent than Meursault does. An example from Chapter Five emphasizes this: “That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to. Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her” (Camus 91, 92).  Marie expresses interest in marriage with Meursault and demonstrates her love for him, yet Meursault hardly reciprocates those feelings. The relationship appears to be casual from Meursault’s view and he is not as emotionally invested in the relationship as Marie. Elaine’s relationship with the older man in the Seinfeld episode is relaxed, at least from Elaine’s perspective. From Elaine’s descriptions of how her new boyfriend treats her, the boyfriend admires her a great deal, however, more than Elaine admires him. The feelings of distance Elaine experiences towards her boyfriend are not acted on immediately, but are addressed at a later time, as she temporarily puts them off to care for him after he suffered a stroke. As Meursault feels a weak connection to his girlfriend Marie, Elaine feels a weak connection to her older boyfriend. The significant others of both Meursault and Elaine are more passionate about their relationships than Meursault and Elaine. This creates looming trouble for Meursault and created trouble for Elaine that was settled by the end of the episode.

Everything is Absurd: Absurdism in Seinfeld and The Stranger

The topic of absurdism is touched in everyday life and the media and often it is left unnoticed. Whether it is questioning human existence or wondering why we have to work. The question of whether or not life has meaning or if there is a purpose is questioned by absurdists by asking if everything between birth and death has a greater meaning. In Albert Camus’s The Stranger, the protagonist, Meursault, has absurdist views on life. His values are exhibited in his mother’s death, the altercation with the arabs and his reactions to both animal and human abuse. There are parallels between Meursault and Jerry Seinfeld in the Seinfeld episode “The Alternate Side.” In this episode Jerry’s car is stolen and is forced to navigate the difficulties of renting a car while George Costanza tries his hand at a new job. Though very subtle, this episode has an absurdist tone and connects with The Stranger.

When Meursault’s mother dies in the first chapter his reaction is surprising to the reader. This is because of his absurdist views and his view that birth and death are the natural bookends of life. “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 56) It is apparent in this passage that the death of his mother had very little impact on his everyday life; he simply accepts it and moves on. A comparable scene of “The Alternate Side” is when Jerry finds out that his car has been stolen. For many people this would be exceedingly alarming; however, he accepts the fact that his car is gone and moves on. This acceptance of non ideal scenarios is an absurdist view because absurdists believe that anything that happens in between birth and death has no meaning and people attempt to make meaning out of these absurd situations. 

Similarly, following Meursault’s shooting of the arab he walks away without remorse. “I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” (Camus 66) He could have left the body but decided to shoot it more times which showed his insensitivity to death. This view connects with Elaine in the Seinfeld when she is breaking up with her boyfriend who was suffering from the aftermath of a stroke. This shows that Elaine perceived the stroke as insignificant and absurd. It is sometimes difficult to identify the absurdness of our actions but it is apparent that both The Stranger and “The Alternate Side” exhibit these values.

Parallels Between The Stranger and Abstract Art

Albert Camus uses The Stranger as a means to explore themes of confusion and violence, which are also explored in Joan Mitchell’s abstract art. The dramatic color range in her untitled work below could be viewed as an expression of violence. Paint strokes are angry and twisted. The randomness and lack of order seek to portray confusion in the painting. One might infer that dripping paint is a representation of blood.

In Camus’ The Stranger violence erupts out of confusion, and a murder occurs without a strong motive. After spending time with his new friend, Meursault is pulled into the conflict between Raymond and the group of Arabs. The hatred builds up tension and eventually, results in Meursault killing one of Raymond’s enemies on the beach. “I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I’d been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace.” This passage from The Stranger shows Meursault’s disappointment and confusion about the violent event.


“Raymond started getting worked up. The other Arab went on playing, and both of them were watching every move Raymond made. “No,” I said to Raymond, “take him on man to man and give me your gun.” Originally intending to prevent violence by taking Raymond’s gun, Meursault ends up committing murder. This irony further underlines the confusion and violence in Camus’ novel. Through paint and words, both artist and writer communicate their opinions about violence and confusion.

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)

The Stranger’s Connection to Seinfeld

Often times in literature, readers can find similarities and connections to relevant day-to-day themes, movies, or TV shows. In this case, The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, connects closely to the TV show, Seinfeld, episode “The Alternate Side.” In this specific example between two literary connections, there are both general themes and specific events that relate the two closely. These two comparisons show how often literary connections can be made and how prevalent they are in day-to-day life.

In terms of specific events, both have one of the main characters feel no remorse for a bad action they did towards someone. In The Stranger, the main character, Meurseault, murders an Arab man on the beach. Meurseault did not intend to kill the man; however, the novel describes that the trigger of the gun “gave,” taking away any blame from Meurseault. Meurseault then shoots four more bullets into the Arab man, even though he was already dead. “Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. ” (Page 107) This suggests that he did not feel any remorse or guilt by murdering this man, almost as if the murder was subconscious. In the beginning of the Seinfeld episode, the main character’s car is stolen. Jerry, the main character, calls his car phone, hoping someone will pick up. The person who stole the car in fact picks up the phone, and when Jerry asks the man if he is the one that stole the car, the thief blatantly admits to the crime. The thief displays no feelings of guilt and even admits that he plans on keeping the car. The thief reacts very similarly to Meurseault in The Stranger after they both have committed a crime.

In a more general sense, there is also a connection between Seinfeld and The Stranger because both have a character that brings down other people in their mess. In “The Alternate Side” episode of Seinfeld, the character George, Jerry’s friend, carries all of his friends into a mess. George crashes Jerry’s rental car, delaying the set of the movie which Kramer was acting in and also delaying the paramedics that were supposed to help Elaine’s boyfriend. In the end, Kramer loses his job on the set of Woody Allen’s movie and Jerry has to pay for the damage done on the rental car. In The Stranger, one of the main characters, Raymond, also brings down the other main characters in his own mess. Raymond gets mixed up with Arabs who want something from him. He decides to walk on the beach with Meurseault and Masson, unfortunately running in to the Arabs and starting a fight. Raymond almost forces his two other friends to join him. “ Raymond went right up to his man. I couldn’t hear what he said to him, but the other guy made a move as though he were going to butt him. Then Raymond struck the first blow and called Masson right away.” (Page 96) Although they escape this first fight fairly safely, Meurseault returns to the beach, spots the Arab, and engages in a fight with him. Almost subconsciously, Meurseault shoots the Arab four times. Although Raymond did not intend any harm, he brought Meurseault and Masson into his mess, and led Meurseault to murder a man.