“HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE”

"Hell is other people."
This assertion was made by the French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre through a character in his play "Huis Clos" (No Exit) in 1944. In this play, three individuals are condemned to spend eternity together in a locked room. Today, there are those who volunteer and queue up to participate in programs with a similar concept.

To what extent can we endure the judgmental gaze of "others"? And how long can we tolerate the actions of "others" when their presence is constant and limiting? After a few hours, who will emerge as a lifelong friend or a mortal enemy?

Consider what the five students might say, confined to their microcosm in "The Breakfast Club" (1985). Or, in a broader view of society, on a particularly bad day, how far can a man like any other go in "Falling Down" (1993)?

But perhaps the most infernal realization is knowing that each of us is also "the other."