No Exit Flashcards
What do eyelids represent
Lack of respite
What do the mirrors in no exit represent
Lack of self recognition
What does the bronze statue represent
Design of hell
What does the toothbrush represent
Hygiene
What does the paper knife represent
Already dead
“Well well, let’s get on with it..”
Absurd hero
“We have all the electricity we want”
Nazi reference
“There is no need for red hot pokers, hell is other people”
Metaphysical hell
“I begin to wonder if I really and truly exist”
Existentialism
“I’m wondering if there hasn’t been some ghastly mistake”
Self denial
“I didn’t. I was a post office clerk”
Class division
Who does the Valet represent
He could be represented as Satan himself or someone who works for Satan in delivering people to Hell.
Explain the theme of light
The characters cannot escape the light or escape from Hell. They also cannot get a break from eachother
Name the other person who rejected the Nobel a prize for literature
Pasternak
Name two other works by Sarte
The respectful prostitute and nausea
What from Sarte’s childhood may have influenced No Exit
Sarte’s father died while Jean Paul was young and his grandfather took care of him for the most part. His grandfather did not approve of any of Sarte’s works and this may have lead him to depression and to think his life was a living hell
Name one person buried in the same cemetery as Sartre
His spouse Simone de Beauvoir
Explain the themes of guilt and redemption in No Exit
Each character realizes their wrongdoings or what got them into hell. When they come to the conclusion that they’ll never be able to get out of hell and feel like they should make up for what they did wrong.. For examples Garcin feels guilty for disrespecting his Wife and wants to make up for it
How is hell other people
Couple reasons- each character Brings some type of hell to each of the other characters. They can’t escape eachother. The locked doors and walls represent a signify the fact that they are trapped. This is not the standard hell we know. This isn’t labor heavy, torture heavy, hot hell we have been accustomed to hearing about. It’s a mental, psychological, emotional hell that they cannot escape from.
