thinking outside the box

Notes:
-there are 4 characters trapped in "hell" but Hell isn't described as the place you are in, but more of the people you are surrounded by.
-Valet, Garcin, Estelle, and Inez
-they all desperately want out of the well decorated room.

1.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:
- Hell would be a place where no matter how hard I try I can never succeed. This place could look ordinary like college, or a work place. I think that Hell is something that you as an individual create, if you are constantly down about certain places, or people then yes you are going to feel "in Hell" when you are in the presence of those things. I fear failure to succeed in life,which is why I am stressing about college so much, so living in a place where I can't succeed night and day would ultimately make me go insane. I think that this is what drives many people to believe their lives are hell.

2.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?
-Varietys offer change, and options rather then just having the same thing for a long period of time. I think that if you endure anything for a long amount of time you will begin not to feel the same about it. Everyone needs a blanance in life or they will begin to question things and may begin to not get the joys out of life and feel as if they are in Hell.

3. 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?
-Garcin didnt take my classes seriously that I would be in my personal Hell. Hell would be where I easily get annoyed with myself for letting myself be there.

4. Compare how Plato and Sartre describe the limitations of our thinking and imply solutions to the problem.
-The ability to learn and educate yourself is the main focus of both. In "The Allegory of the Cave" Plato describes how one must gain the knowledge to leave the cave and become free, while in "No Exit" Sartre wants his characters to learn that they are not happy and to change things. They both want their characters to take learning things and gain knowledge to better themselves. I feel that both authors believe eduacation is the key to becoming a better person and overcoming being a prisoner or being in Hell.  
They both use lots of literary devices throughout their pieces.
Characterization is a big one in "No Exit" since the whole play is in dialouge.
Imagery is a commonly used element in both of the pieces because Plato uses imagery to describe the cave and the light, and Sartre decribes the room and the people.
Irony is another used element. They both use irony because they both are talking about somewhat ironic things.