Drip...Drip...Drip

I've been reading many different posts about how my fellow honors students were surprised at how mild hell had been in No Exit. While this was my initial reaction to the reading, I began to realize that this hell could actually be much more torturous than what it seemed at first. Before I begin, I must first say that there is no way we as humans can comprehend how terrible hell could possibly be. Now that we have that out of the way, we can begin.

Drip...Drip...Drip

The hell in No Exit was not the physically painful place with the torture racks and demons running about a cave that seems to have flames com up from nowhere. It was a much more sinister place, a locked room with a few sofas. While it seemed at first that Garcin would be by himself, he was soon joined by Inez, then Estelle.

Drip...Drip...Drip

Ever heard of Chinese water torture? If not, let me sum it up. Chinese water torture is simply placing someone, tied, in a chair and slowly dripping water on their foreheads. There is no physical torture, it's all mental. at first, you don't mind the drops of water. After a while, the drops begin to feel like pebbles, then rocks. After a couple of hours, it feels like someone is dropping hammers on your head. Depending on the person, at about 3 hours it feels like hand grenades raining down on you. People can only handle so much.

Drip...Drip...Drip

This was the hell that Sartre was going for: that slow, agonizing mental anguish that beats out physical torture. People have been known to go insane from it. That's why the characters were so irritating to each other. After so long, they would be fed up with each other, then it would only get worse.

Drip...Drip...Drip

~~Cody Martin

PS- Commented on Tori's The Never Ending Race