Sartre's Misconceptions Of Hell In No Exit

One of the misconceptions about hell that Sartre touches upon in No Exit is that it is typically imagined as a place of pitchforks and fire – a place based more on physical torture than mental. In the case of Sartre’s hell, Garcin suffers a hell that is mostly psychological, with Inez and Estelle being the sources of his torment. In my opinion, these are the two forms of hell that could exist – physical and psychological torment. One of them provides a tangible feeling that a person suffers and can comprehend, the other torments the person in their subconscious, unknown to even the victim. In Garcin’s case, he knows that Estelle and Inez were put together to torture each other psychologically, but he has no control over how he tortures them, …show more content…
While my parents were inside talking to my uncle and aunt, I was outside with one of my older brothers next to the pool. At some point, my parents heard yelling as they ran outside and saw me struggling to breathe as my brother was pulling me out from the middle of the pool. Subsequently, I was fine, but it was a major shock for my family almost having their baby drown. It’s from this experience that I have developed a fear of drowning, although to this day I have learned how to swim. Incorporating this into what may be my own personal hell, I look to the torture method of waterboarding as the most accurate simulation of …show more content…
We see in No Exit that there is a more than supernatural element when Estelle attempts to kill Inez by stabbing her, only to soon learn that she cannot die because they are already dead. The practicality of this event supports the idea that hell is designed to be deliberately torturous for eternity, meaning that any loophole to avoid this pain or torture will be compensated by some supernatural effect that stops the loophole from taking place – Estelle cannot kill Inez because this would deplete her source of torture, so whatever supernatural being that is in control (The valet or the devil) will stop her from avoiding this. Thus, this concept can be practically applied in any situation, including the sensation of waterboarding. If a person’s hell is based on physical pain, supernatural forces will cause that person’s hell to be repeated under the same conditions every time – meaning they cannot physically or mentally adjust to the pain. Thus, in my case, this sensation of drowning and seeing my family torture me would be as painful as possible every