Hell is other people?

[secondlina]

I've been diving into my Jean-Paul Sartre books. It reminded me of the two versions of Hell I saw in literature that really scared me

The one in No Exit is pretty terrifying. You all know it. That's the play written by Sartre from where that "Hell is other people" quote comes from. It's basically three people torturing each other and being bored for years in a tiny room they can't leave. They go crazy after a week.

Another version of literature hell I find quite terrifying is the one in "His Dark Materials". Big, empty space where you sometimes meet other people. The only thing to break the boredom is the occasional harpy attack. 

Let's face it, nothing tortures people like being unable to develop, to be creative, and to only get to talk to other people they have nothing in common. Move over fire and brimestone. 

It was pretty boring at work today. I translated documents and made a paperclip pyramid. 

- Isa

Comments

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

I was completely unaware of those versions of Hell, actually, but it's not so much the fire and brimstone anyway. Regardless, I can't think of any Hell worse than one where progression cannot happen.

When I have super boring jobs, that's when I let my mind wander since no one can ever have control over that aspect of me, thank goodness. Imagination is the salvation of bored people everywhere - so long as we're willing to use it. (But then, I've been accused of always having my head in the clouds, so if you want people to respect you, maybe you don't want to have that reputation.)

[anna-nimmie-tee.livejournal.com]

I remeber reading Huis clos in high school French class so very long ago. We also read stories by Camus. Of all my teachers, the French teacher had the biggest impact on my philosophical growth. She encouraged us to think for ourselves about what we read. Alas, through long disuse, much of my facility with the language is gone, although reading is doable with a dictionary.

I've always thought hell can be other people, but other people can also be heaven. Depends on the kind of day I'm having!

[engelen.livejournal.com]

see?
that's why I don't want to be a translator D:
(even tho that's my major...)

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

I can see the hellish there... although being bored with no one to talk to would be worse. At least if there are other people around, even if you don't have anything in common, you can find ways to spark a conversation and learn something new :P

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Wow, pretty intense reading materials there!

And work was boring for me too...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_aurora_sky_/]

woah. that looks just like me at work, sans headphones. Randomly, I was working on one of the HTTYD memes and drew a pic quite similar to this >.>

Yay, cubicles. -_-U

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Urgh. Cubicles. I don't think I ever had a job that crushed my spirit this much. Something about those tiny felt walls is evil.