Thinking Outside the Box

Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois, like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture like Dante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peace in a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how it would feel to live there endlessly, night and day.

 -My own personal Hell would probably be a black, cold room. Isolation is one of the things I simply can not stand because being alone for such a long period of time would drive me insane. Neither a way in nor out frightens me. I think there is a way to find peace in a Hellish environment because just because the place looks really crappy, it doesn't mean that I'm not able to enjoy the company of others. If I were to live night and day in Satre's Hell I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to handle other people that get on my nerves and I'd stab my eyes out.

 Could hell be described as too much of anything without a break? Are variety, moderation and balance instruments we use to keep us from boiling in any inferno of excess,' whether it be cheesecake or ravenous sex?

 -I think you could take that perspective on Hell because people get bored easily with the idea of having to repeat things. Constantly having to do the same thing over and over again really sucks. I can't even imagine having to listen to the same song for all eternity.

How does Sartre create a sense of place through dialogue? Can you imagine what it feels like to stay awake all the time with the lights on with no hope of leaving a specific place? How does Garcin react to this hell? How could you twist your daily activities around so that everyday habits become hell? Is there a pattern of circumstances that reinforces the experience of hell?

 - I think the most important part of the way we perceive the setting is in the beginning when the valet and Garcin are talking and we hear all of his disgusts with the place he will be staying in. I could never imagine not being able to sleep because I think I'd just constantly be tired and irritated by the lights and people around me.Garcin tries to make the most of Hell which is good I guess, but there's only so much you can do to make it not seem like Hell. If I really wanted to make my life a living Hell I would go to my favorite restaurants and order my favorite foods all the time until I got sick of eating the same thing, ruining food is the worst Hell imaginable.