"As many fireflies as the peasant sees when he rests on a hill and looks into the valley" (Canto XXVI 25-26)

In Canto XXVI Dante enters the Bolgia Eight in perseverance of encountering the Evil Counselors. He begins his journey to the Evil Counselors by addressing his home residence of Florence, in which he claims many of the inhabitants now reside in Hell because it is a place of sin and crime. Dante also prophesizes that one day Hell will befall upon Florence, "And were that day of mourning already come it would not be too soon" (Canto XXVI 9-10). Florence portrays Dante's only connection to the modern world and Hell in which he perceives both will be connected due to the erroneous sins committed.

The poets then climbed the natural stair and passed on and Dante notices the many little flames reminding him of fireflies upon a hill. Dante almost falling into the chasm from the ledge, acknowledges Virgil who tells him, "There are souls within those flames; each sinner swathes himself in his own torment" (Canto XXVI 46-47). Dante replies to Virgil that he wants to speak with a great flame that splits away into two great horns of fire. We find that this two-pronged flame conceals Ulysses and Diomede whom are contained in Hell because of the three sins they committed. The ambush of the Trojan Horse; the crying of Dieidamia who Achilles abandoned; and the theft of Pallas Athena's statue at the Palladium.

Virgil then speaks to Ulysses and Diomede because he is worried since they are Greek they may scorn Dante's language. Ulysses then tells the story of his death and the perilous journey and travesties he had to face. He spoke of how he encountered the Hercules' Pillars and aroused his men to sail to a giant mountain in which they then encountered a storm and their ship sunk. In this passage the author again uses an allegory and compares and contrasts the use of light and dark. Ulysses states to Virgil during the story of his death, "the light beneath the moon had waxed and waned, 'when death upon our course we sighted, dark in space, a peak so tall...'" (Canto XXVI 122-124). The juxtaposition of light and dark is used throughout the Inferno and in Ulysses' story depicts the development of accomplishment to disaster, similar to the transition of light to dark.
I remember reading the epic journey of Ulysses in middle school and admiring his courage and perseverance. Reading this Canto now I was confused to find that he reserved a place in Hell. Because Ulysses served for the greater good of his crew and portrayed the role as a protagonist and a hero. However, I found that because he was born before Christ that befalls him to become a victim to original sin, therefore he is sent straight to Hell. I also found the fact that Dante could not speak to Ulysses but only Virgil was interesting because of fear of Ulysses scorning Dante's language. I perceive this may be because Dante is Italian which would refer back to his descending from Aeneas and associate him with the Troys that Ulysses despises.

No Exit Book Response

There are many figurative elements to No Exit that are interpretted and perceived as existentialist throughout the play. The constant reference to eyes and the "gaze" of the other characters in the novel describes how it affects one's freedom and interraction with society. The constant search for mirrors is conveyed as an escape plot from avoiding the judging gaze of one another. However, this is what the characters in the play recognize later in the play, this is Hell's plan, the inevitable judgement and torture the characters display upon one another. The continuous toying with one's emotions and the erroneous lies that consume the characters inside the room is the mental torture in which they can never escape.
The constant glare of the Valet also emphasizes the Nazi movement in Paris in the mid 1940s. The Nazis would suppress their victims and cause them unexplicable torture and pain, similar to the Valet in keeping Garcin, Inez, and Estelle locked in a room only to consume their inner thoughts and feelings, never to escape their fate. The lack of sleep and inability to close his eyes, is interpretted by Garcin, "No eyelids, no sleep; it follows, doesn't it? I shall never sleep agian. But then-how shall I endure my own company?" (6). The symbolance of lack of eyelids and sleep also portrays the inability to escape fear, as one usually closes their eyes to avoid the sight of what they fear most.
The scene in which the characters attempt to escape from the room is represented by their fear and anxiety of responsibility is resulted in bad faith. Garcin is unable to leave the room when the door opens because he can't handle the responsibility of confronting his decision to flee his country and leaves it to Inez to define his essence over his existence. In a similar instance, Estelle does cannot be upheld for her actions because she denies she exists due to the lack of the mirrors, she cannot see herself as others do. The scene in which Inez acts as Estelle's mirror causes Estelle to believe Inez's judgements of her essence. Inez tells Estelle, "There isn't any pimple, not a trace of one. So what about it? Suppose the mirror started telling lies?" (21). The lies and Inez portray Estelle and Garcin as symbols of bad faith and reluctancy to condemn their freedom.
The paper knife exemplifies the neverending despair and grievance of eternal life in Hell. Inez strongly proclaims, "Dead! Dead! Dead! Knives, poision, ropes-all useless. It has happened already, do you understand? Once and for all. So here we are forever" (46). There is no death because they are already in the afterlife, therefore what many think that death is a last resort for escape is not an option in Hell. In saying this, Inez is the only one who asserts her freedom and chooses her essence in the present, and she is able to confront her responsibility and suffering in conveying her existence. Inez is the only character in the play to truly portray Sartre's theory of existentialism, unlike Garcin and Estelle whom are extremely materialistic and allow society to convey their thoughts and perceptions.

Sartre's Biography

· SJean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris and his father died when he was only fifteen months old and thus his mother became a major influence upon his life.
· In his childhood Sartre portrayed brilliance in the classroom, however his behavior was often unpredictable and arrogant.
· From 1931-1945 he worked as a teacher and he also traveled to foreign countries during this period, such as Egypt, Greece, and Italy
· In 1933-1934 he studied in Berlin under the writings of German philosophers Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger
· He was drafted in 1939 and then imprisoned a year later in Germany, however he was released or escaped in 1941
· Sartre then joined a resistance movement in Paris and wrote for magazines such as, Les Lettres Francaise and Combat
· Sartre attempted to reconcile existentialism and Marxism with the French Communist Party, although he was never a member
· Sartre was an exponent of atheistic existentialism
· “Sartre’s WWII experience is an example of what existentialists see as the ever present necessity for individual choice. His was a very obvious case in point, a choice which all Frenchmen faced at the time: collaboration, resistance, or quite self preservation” (http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Sartre.htm)
· Sartre portrays human life as an “unhappy consciousness” a “useless passion” and that our emotions are not outside of the control of our wills
· "There is no ultimate meaning or purpose inherent in human life; in this sense life is 'absurd'. We are 'forlorn', 'abandoned' in the world to look after ourselves completely. Sartre insists that the only foundation for values is human freedom, and that there can be no external or objective justification for the values anyone chooses to adopt”
(http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Sartre.htm)

Cites/Sources:
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Sartre.htm
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/sart.htm
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/sartre.htm

No Exit Daily Writing Pgs. 1-17

The play, No Exit greatly interprets the use of existentialism upon which the three characters are isolated from the real world and the perspectives of their peers. The lack of glass in the room heightens this ideal in which it is up to the characters to either rely on their inmates to defy who they are, or to rely on their self to defy their image. Garcin frighteningly exclaims, "How beastly of them! They've removed everything int he least resembling a glass" (9). The glass symbolizes a lack of perception for the characters to visualize themselves physically, therefore they become unaware of their true presence.
It becomes clear through the text that the three characters have no common traits upon their deaths or previous lives. Garcin dies from being shot twelve times, Inez is suffocated by the gas stove, and Estelle dies of pneumonia. However, all three characters have different theories upon why they share the same room. Garcin considers it all to be a "fluke" and Estelle happens to think it is chance they arrive in the same room together. Inez, on the other hand, refers to the room as predetermined fate, "I tell you they've thought it all out. Down to the last detail. Nothing was left to chance. This room was all set for us" (14). Inez portrays that the Second Empire furniture and surroundings to Paris and this idea to the French audience that Hell exists upon earth, not only in a mental state of mind.
The constant lurk of the Valet with his eyelid-less glare can be conveyed to the troubling Nazi presence in the mid 1940s in Paris. Garcin states to the Valet, "Four thousand little respites-just think!...So that's the idea. I'm to live without eyelids" (6). The Valet never blinks for he never loses sight of the residents in the room of the Second Empire furniture, and thus his looming presence always remains in the room. The lack of eyelids can also represent the inability to escape from fear, Garcin must keep his eyes open and witness the torture and pain yet to come.

My Views of Hell

I perceive Hell as the epitome of fear and a never ending place of doom and torture. In Hell, there is no where to go, and no where to run. Hell portrays an endless cave of flames that engulfs the premises and the inextinguishable flames repeatedly scorch your skin, leaving your body in a torturous state for all eternity. Black smoke encases the underground cave, in which there is no visibility and you can only hear the screams of those being tortured or mutilated. You never see the figures that agonize the screams, only their shadows against the red dust. Every time you attempt to take a breath you are consumed by the taste of burning corpses and the heat of thousands of degrees. The gates of Hell are only seen when entering Hell, once a resident of Hell, you will never again see the gated entrance or exit. There is no exit.

Hey everybody!
I'm Heather as you all know and I have a strong, fiery passion for Humanities.
I kinda swim all the time and I have no life, my favorite stroke is the butterfly and yeah thats pretty much all I do with myself after school besides doing english homework of course!
I love my friends and they mean the world to me =]
I enjoy long walks along the beach and stargazing and my favorite show is gossip girl xoxo H
A favorite quote of mine is "in the end everything will be okay, if it's not okay, it's not the end"
Another amazing quote is "let your conscience be your guide" by the ever famous Jiminey Cricket thats a shoutout to you Kasey Quinlan...and that wierd girl Katie Lamark who doesn't wear sweatpants..ever
Ms. Giggie + Humanities class + Hell Unit = BEST TIME EVERRRR