Thinking Outside the Box

In Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, “No Exit,” existentialist philosophy is key; the theme is “hell is other people.” This idea implies that other people are the basis of our limitations of our thinking. Certainly, people can do and think as they please and create their own personal sense of reality, but they will allow other people to limit them. As for Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Plato seems to feel that the limitations of our thoughts are only natural and uncontrollable, yet it is completely up to us, ourselves, to break free of these boundaries. It is our choice to abandon our caves (our natural ignorance), and also our choice to stay outside in the sunshine of enlightenment. Instead of other people being the source of our limits, our limits are uncontrollable and we are in charge of overcoming them. Both philosophers seem to other rather simple-sounding solutions. Plato offers the solution of leaving the cave of your own free will, turning your face to the sun and allowing your eyes to acclimate to a new reality of insight. Sartre’s solution could be as simple as not allowing other people to become hell for you, seeing as you have the ability to frame your own sense of reality.

Both pieces make use of extended metaphor, and you can say that both are examples of allegory (alright, it is pretty much a given when you look at Plato’s work). The storylines themselves are metaphorical, and many of the actions/objects/ideas within them are symbolic as well. The main extended metaphors were Plato’s cave and Sartres’ hell (that room with the offensive style of furniture).  These objects, these places, became characters within the pieces. All that the cave dwellers/prisoners have, and all that Garcin, Inez, and Estelle have is the space that they dwell within. It is constantly present, physically and within their minds (except for when the cave dwellers free themselves; then their lives become so much more). Eh, I apologize if this little analysis isn’t quite up to snuff. It’s been a busy week for procrastinators everywhere, I’m sure.