Also, this is a picture of the set. It's very boring like I visualized it in my head. I can only imagine the endless possibilities of doing absolutely nothing in this room.
Friday, October 30, 2015
No Sleep
I can't imagine not ever being able to sleep again. I know how it feels staying up all night and having to do something the next day and I certainly do not like it at all. Perhaps instead of the characters being each other's torturers, it is the feeling of drowsiness associated with not getting sleep that is the true evil. (Do Garcin, Estelle, and Inez even feel anything in Hell... Are they just souls like we read in Inferno?) Sleep provides a time period for the brain and body to rest and it also allows a means for momentary escape from society around us. The characters aren't even able to close their eyelids, so imagine going all of eternity without taking a break ever. The fact that they are trapped in a plain room without anything to do for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week adds to the hellish nature of their situation. They really and truly are in Hell.
Also, this is a picture of the set. It's very boring like I visualized it in my head. I can only imagine the endless possibilities of doing absolutely nothing in this room.
Also, this is a picture of the set. It's very boring like I visualized it in my head. I can only imagine the endless possibilities of doing absolutely nothing in this room.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Even though time goes so much more quickly in hell than it does on earth, it doesn't make a difference. They're still trapped for an eternity with no escaping. I think it's also interesting that no matter how many times any of them ring the bell, the valet will never return. He provides them with a false sense of security when he first brings them to the room, telling them to simply ring the bell if they need anything. This is the first of many lies that hell offers. The three characters try to ring the bell many times in order to escape. We could say that, in a sense, the valet betrays them just like they betrayed so many people back down on earth. This may be a form of karma. In some ways this hell seems even worse than Dante's.
In a way all of the little annoying things add up to be worse than Dante's hell. They are bothered by the feeling of lack of sleep, as well as the increasing heat (which they often complained of). They also are bothered by each other. In Dante's hell the punishment was so bad that I am sure that is all those being punished could think about.The punishment was their distraction as well. In the play, on the other hand, their punishments are minor, and always nagging them, but they have no distraction from that pain and their situation. Even when they try to create their own distractions it doesn't work out, which is why I think that in Sartre's hell part of the punishment is that there is no distraction.
I don't think that they actually feel drowsy. I don't think they are capable of feeling tired any longer. Even so, do not have any breaks in time would be absolute torture. Without separating everyday by nighttime, you can't think of time as days or weeks- all of time runs together in an unbearable infinity that drags on without anything to look forward to. That to me would be the ultimate hell and would definitely be the first thing to drive me crazy.
"I can't imagine not ever being able to sleep again."
Wait till you get to college :)
I agree with Madison that the little things make Sartre's hell unbearable. I absolutely HATE not getting enough sleep. I am cranky and take out my anger on everyone else around me. Then I also get lots of anxiety because I don't function as well as I should. Honestly, sometimes when I don't get enough sleep I have a mini-breakdown later on in the day which ends in tears, stress, and frustration. The thought of being bored forever is also awful. I'm a super active, involved person and I don't think I could truly deal with having annoying people stuck in a plain room with me for all of eternity. It *almost* makes a tortuous, fire-filled hell seem more appealing.
Post a Comment