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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.