Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thinking Outside the Box
The "Allegory of the Cave" and "No Exit" are both extended metaphors, i.e., a figure of speech that constructs an analogy between two things or ideas. The "Allegory of the Cave" describes the difference between belief and reality, meant to illustrate the effects of education on the human soul. The shadows the prisoners in the cave see may seem real, but in reality they are only created from light shining on certain objects. In "No Exit," the difference between belief and judgement are contrasted. For example, when Inez meets Garcin, she comments on the shape of his mouth. With no mirrors around, Garcin must decide whether to remember what he looked like before and believe he still looks the same way, or trust Inez and judge her to see if she is telling the truth. Sartre also emphasized that hell is a state of mind, not a specific place.
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Do you agree with Sartre that hell is a state of mind and not a specific place. Do you think you can be in a beautiful place but still be in hell in your mind?
ReplyDeleteI would agree, if you allow yourself to be trapped by the hell of your mind rather than rise above and allow your surroundings to bring you out of that mental darkness.
ReplyDeleteI would also have to agree in that I believe Satre was trying to convey the message that his characters created their own personal Hell. They were trapped in their own corrupted minds and it was not actually a place to physically go to.
ReplyDeleteAnswering Nicole's questions, and agreeing with both of you above, I think that Sartre described hell as a state of mind. The characters of "No Exit" were in a beautiful place, and yet they still were in their own forms of personal hell.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that your mental world can be completely disconnected from the outside world (hell in a beautiful place), but I'm not sure that I'd agree that the characters were trapped in their own minds. As per my interpretation of the play, each character's hell was the the other people. Each of the characters were trapped at the will of the two other characters, not their own state of mind. For example, Inez would have been perfectly fine if it were not for Garcin and Estelle. She had atoned her past experiences and was open and honest with her thoughts. Her only problem, the source of her torture, was Estelle's blunt rejection of her. This is also represented by the symbolic lack of mirrors in "No Exit".
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