Existential Alienation: Exploiting The Lower Class

For centuries there has been a hierarchy of class structure, with a ruling class, harshly exploiting the lower class economically and socially. Alienation is the experience of being isolated from a group or activity that one should be a part of. This cycle of domination is derived from existential alienation building up in certain people. Existential alienation causes economic alienation because of greed, selfishness, and problems with one’s self, which is common in the higher or ruling class of society. Existential alienation is within everyone, but it is not equal among individuals. Some individuals need an escape from their depression and social isolation so they purposefully and sometimes unknowingly exploit other people to relieve themselves

Existential alienation leads to a separation from reality and, causing rash and futile decision making. These feelings of ostracism can make people desire things they normally would not want. For example in The Stranger Meursault’s loneliness is self-imposed, and is a choice he made. In other instances people might have fantasized about being abducted and brought somewhere else, to escape their reality, or even about being popular and more fortunate. “Then he asked me if I wasn’t interested in a change of life. I said that people never change their lives and that one life was as good as another” (Sartre, 21). When given the opportunity of a lifetime Meursault swiftly declines, explaining he has no ambition in life. He is so isolated from the world around him he makes rash decisions, and neglects to attempt move up in society. The personal problems with the higher class are partially due to existential alienation which is caused by the common problems of their class. The common lower and middle class also experience problems with themselves but the difference is in the cause. Often times the higher class deal with extensive privacy loss, money management, and insufficient amount of time for leisure activities. Higher class members of society also have very high stress-related problems which leads them to them subconsciously releasing powerful pent up emotions and

Existential alienation causes economic alienation because of various problems with the higher class. “When I say I’m cruel, I mean I can’t go on without making people suffer. Like a live coal. A live coal in others hearts. When I’m alone I flicker out” (Sartre, 21). This quote is from Inez as she blatantly admits to what she can’t help conversing with the others. The characters are tormented by desiring each other’s company, but are tortured by them in every way. Just like they can’t help not interacting with each other, people can’t help how they feel, weather expressed in social alienation or depression. If emotions are bottled in inside, they leek out in peoples tone, behavior, mood, and the way they treat others. Jean-Paul Sartre attempts to analyze the pattern of people avoiding important feelings. “Every human reality is a passion in that it projects losing itself which escapes contingency by being its own foundation” (Sartre, 60). We want to be full conscious be we can, just like we don’t want to feel existential alienation but we do. The evasion of guilty and doubtful feelings can be seen in No Exit where Estelle feels alienated and cannot admit to what she done before she died. Instead, she bottles up her past and feelings, and is easily manipulated by Inez who lies to her about her appearance. Estelle ends up feeling worse around Inez because of her insecurity and existential