Analysis Of Hell Is Other People By Jean Sartre

Of all the questions ever asked by humanity, perhaps none is as important as that of existence. It has received prominence dating back to ancient times, starting with simple questions like “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” Of course, there is a reason why these questions are so important that it created a new branch in philosophy. The question of our fate and reason for existing touches us all deeply because we will all die eventually, and we will all struggle with the question of why we bother when our destinies are so bleak. Even so, rarely do people give this question any weight until their own mortality smacks them in the face. I have received my own taste of this rude awakening last summer. A week after the end of school, I had my first existential crisis. I remember crying for seven hours straight, as I could not stop thinking about my own death and the deaths of those around me. How could it be that everything that I had ever loved, feared, and worried about simply disappear from my …show more content…
I believe that there is truth to that statement beyond the fact that others cause the loss of one’s unique self, which is the way Sartre may have intended it to be interpreted. I view it as a more positive statement. I believe that hell is other people because other people keep us here, no matter how absurd it may seem to stay. Without others, it does not make much of a difference whether I live or die. I could do what I please with no consequence and perish with no consequence, but if I were to selfishly do that when there are other people in my life, I would be detracting myself from helping them, which is my purpose in life. In fact, I could actively create consequence by affecting those surrounding me. However, since I will not be able to do as I please without adversing from my purpose, others create this “hell” that I am trapped in, one that is not necessarily horrible since I am bound because I