Billy Wang – Grade 12
Instructor: Ms. Petula
English Literature
18 October 2020
(Wordcounts: 889)
How to Understand Satre’s “Hell is Other People” in No Exit
No Exit is a French play written by Satre whose stance of philosophy about existentialism is clear to tell with. No Exit depicts the encounter of three main characters, which are Garcin, Estelle, and Inez, in hell for some reason. Their conversations are tight and fierce, provoking one’s gloomy corner in the heart grimly and instigating potential conflicts. In this short story, informative philosophical discussions or implying are lying deep beneath the surface of characters’ words, emotions, and behaviors. A very significant idea from Satre that seems to describe the hellish relationship between people is simplistically spoken out by characters. That is “Hell is other people”. Therefore, this essay will focus on elaborating it in the following paragraphs.
It is appropriate for people to consider this saying as a description of relationships. Superficially, in No Exit, similar harmful scenes and conversations take place from time to time. “I mean that each of us will act as torturer of the two
others.” (17) Inez’s summative statement obviously shows the tense interpersonal relationship among them. Even worse, the words that three characters from No Exit said to each other are like sharp paperknives which can poke soft papers in a millisecond, tearing their fake disguises covering their egos. In other words, they are harming each other for no reason. Garcin once irrationally yelled that “You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the “burning marl.” Old wives’ tales! There’s no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE!” (45) People have a reason to believe that Satre wants to establish an idea of hurting in this case. However, such an understanding of “Hell is other people” requires corrections. It has been misunderstood for many decades.
Satre himself once clarified it, claiming that “Hell is other people” is not for pointing out the hellish relationships. On the contrary, what he really means is “something totally different”. He said, “if relations with someone else are twisted, vitiated, then that other person can only be hell.” (Ambrosino) This can be referred to as his idea of existentialism. From his perspective, two kinds of the method used to describe one person’s existence. Ego and subject. When someone opens a window, as an individual who is looking at the outside world, the world is converging to himself. In other words, he is the center of this world from his view. This is the revelation of the ego. Another situation is that others are also looking at this world, which contains him in their sights. In this case, that individual, he becomes the subject in their egos, somehow depriving his freedom and free will because he will feel a sense of offense from others. A scholar also concludes it: “The fact that others – and their gaze – is what alienates and locks me in a particular kind of being.” (Tim) For instance, In No Exit, the frequent body movement from Garcin that he always “buries his head in his hands” (10) suggests his evasion to some circumstances. He is not ready to expose his ego under others’ sights and beholding because uncomfortableness and panic will stir his fretful mindset, somehow depriving his free will and breaking down his confidence.
But above all, there is one intriguing symbol in the play that is frequently mentioned though it no longer exists in the setting of the plot. That is the mirror. Garcin, Inez, and Estelle all once seek a mirror to look at themselves. It is not a coincidence. In Satre’s theory, it seems that he is trying to establish the relationship between egos and subjects. In fact, what if that subject is itself, just like the situation of using a mirror, reflecting everything, including a person himself. Penetrating through the superficiality of his existentialism, therefore, an invisible message of this play, or “Hell is other people”, will be figured out, which consolidates and further explained his idea with a practical meaning.
Satre is addressing a point that how we should assess ourselves. Should we use the knowledge of us that other people already have? At the end of the play, which is a climax, although Garcin successfully opened the door, he did not walk out but tried to convince the other two women in the room that he was a good person dramatically. He has coerced others into accepting a personality setting of his. Actually, reviewing the whole story in the play, Garcin, Estelle, and Inez, basically, they were all dealing with one thing. That is to adopt different judges and comments towards themselves from others. Obviously, those three characters failed, and the judges and comments became hell to them, torturing, blaming, and twisting their helpless souls. Additionally, there is a more intertwined implying with it argues we should rationally accept ourselves, or we will become a hell of ours. The symbol of the mirror represents this, and characters could not find any of it in the room, which also proves that they had no method to accept themselves.
All in all, in No Exit, the idea of “Hell is other people” stands a very firm conclusion which synthesizes the characters’ status. Relationships between you and others, judges and comments remarked by others on you, and accepting yourself are three points and intellectual enlightenments for all human beings within Satre’s “Hell is other people”.
Bibliography
Ambrosino, Brandon. Hell Is Other People … Misquoting Philosophers. 17 Nov. 2014, www.vox.com/2014/11/17/7229547/philosophy-quotes-misunderstood-wittgenstein-sartre-descartes.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit And Three Other Plays: No Exit. Vintage International, 1989.
Tim. “Sartre: Hell Is Other People (Explanation).” Philosophy & Philosophers, 3 Sept. 2019, www.the-philosophy.com/sartre-hell-is-other-people.
