Perspectives on Hell in Jean Sartre's No Exit

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Do you have an identity without this society? Hell is not about suffering or punishment. Hell is the society that we live in. People who surround us make our life in hell or heaven for us. People around us make our life miserable by judging our actions. The society that we live in like to judge our acts and bring it to different level where we lost our self-identity and live with the misunderstanding of what people says about us.
In No Exit, from Paul Jean carries the bigger idea of hell being other people. The setting of the play is set up in, hell where three characters Garcin, Inez are in hell interminably. Inez is quite diabolical spirit that likes to judge others. Estelle is concern about her appearance and she wants be noticed. Estelle sees herself in mirror so she can herself exists, “When I can’t see myself I began to wonder if I really and truly exist” (19). Estelle has a lack of self confidence in herself but since there are no mirrors in the hell Inez plays the role of mirror to Estelle. Inez says, “I am your lark mirror, my dear, and you can’t escape me” (21). Inez is metaphorically playing the role of society in the play, Inez judges Estelle and plays with her along the play. Garcin the tired spirit wants himself to other call him brave instead of coward. Inez calls Garcin a coward based on his past. Garcin hears other people calling him coward and losses his self -confidence, “They won’t forget me, not they! They will die but others will come after them to carry on the legend. I’ve left my fate on their hands.”(39). the fate and self-identity of Garcin is lost and he admits the fact that he is coward. Garcin wants someone to depend on and have a faith on him, “A thousand of them are proclaiming I’m a coward but wha...

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...ing is a big problem which is lack of education and students commit suicide and they dropout of school. Similarly people’s comments of calling Garcin coward and Estelle baby killer put their self identity down. And they live with the fact of being called coward and baby killer and they can’t escape the society and live by their own. We have the power to stand up against the society and think positively. Not everyone in this earth live a hell life.

Works Cited

Sartre, Jean. No exit. Vintage International Ed. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Print.
Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward. The stranger. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Print.
"U.Va. Study Links Prevalence of Bullying, Teasing to High Dropout Rates."UVA Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/suicide-of-girl-after-bullying-raises-worries-on-web-sites.html?_r=0

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