Literature Analysis #5: No Exit by Jean-Paul Satre

GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

 -In this play Satre interprets Hell as the torturers being other people through his characters Garcin, Estelle, and Inez. The three of them are all in Hell because of something awful that they have done and they wind up driving each other crazy by the end of the story. Because it is in the form of a play and there is hardly any stage direction, Satre fulfills his purpose of getting to know the characters at the same pace they do which kinda keeps you on the edge of your seat while you're reading along.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

 -The theme of the novel is that Hell is other people. When each of the women first arrive they think that Garcin is the torturer, but he explains to them that he is not. However in reality they are all each others' torturers because since they are locked up in the room they have to deal with each other and how much they hate the personalities of each other.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

 -The author's tone throughout the play is kind of torturous because throughout the course of the play we see that things become worse and worse, and that is all we are still reading for. Hell interests people whether they believe in it or not because people want to understand the possibilities that could happen after life.

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

 -Irony: In the beginning of the play when all of the characters first meet they think that the torturer is in the room, but Garcin explains each time when Inez and Estelle come in that he is not the torturer. The ironic part of it all is that he and the others are the torturers. Ultimately making Hell other people.

 -Pacing: I like the fact that we don't have a sense of time that has gone by in the story because we don't know if this whole play has been going on for minutes, hours, days, years, etc.It's kind of interesting because when they decide to just sit in their corners and not talk to each other, how long did that really last?

 -Setting: The lack of a setting works really well because as a reader you have to really use your imagination to help attain a setting and I think that's where Satre really gets his goal of making people think what would Hell really be like.

 -Characterization: Because there is no direct characterization, readers have to do a lot of their own analysis of the character because there are no details in which we can pick up what they look like, but through dialogue you can find that each of the characters are basically awful human beings (why they are in Hell).

 -Dialogue: Plays are all about dialogue so through this we have to interpret practically everything since stage direction is only used maybe once or twice throughout the whole play.

 -Symbolism: The room represents Hell itself in which the three characters torture each other with their company. "Hell is other people."

 -Conflict: The conflict is the characters themselves because they are causing problems for one another, but will never be able to leave. They provide conflict for each other and can not get away from it so their is never really and resolution.

CHARACTERIZATION
 1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

 -In No Exit there are no direct characterizations because of the fact that it is a play and Satre left it up to interpretation by not giving hardly any stage direction. An example of indirect characterization is having to learn who the characters are through the dialogue, like in the beginning we learn that Garcin finds himself of a higher status because he is making rude remarks on behalf of where he is living (sorry Garcin, this is Hell not Trump Tower). Another indirect characterization is when Estelle asks for something with a reflection so she can look at herself because she is vain.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

 -The author's syntax and diction does not change throughout the play because all of the characters seem to be discussing things in the same manor to the way get upset to the way they just sit and don't do anything.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

 -I don't think that any of the characters in the play are changing so they all are static because all of them are completely stubborn and probably figure why change when their fate is set in stone, there's no second chances after Hell. All of their characters are flat characters in the beginning, but by the end of the play they are round characters because we finally understand their personality.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

 -I don't feel like after reading this play that I have met a real person, but read a character because even though the characters were realistic I couldn't focus on the reality of them when the whole story was Sci-Fi and it wasn't long enough to get a grip or connection with the characters.