Essay Practice

Practice Essay Outline ->  

Beginning/Opening:

Ignorance and narrow minds are the key element in both Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Sartre’s No Exit. The prisoners in the cave were chained to only see towards the cave wall, which brought limitation to their minds. On the other hand, the three characters, Estelle, Inez, and Garcin were all at each other’s throats are they are sitting in an empty room eternally in hell.  

Body Paragraph #1:

·         Estelle in No Exit, she asks Inez and Garcin which one of them is the torturer. She seems to be very shallow about the fact she is in hell. Also, the first thing she asks is if there is a mirror, she is ignorant enough to not understand or come to a realization that she is in hell and will be tortured by Inez and Garcin. The reasons why Sartre would place Estelle into hell with Garcin and Inez was because she affects the two of them individually.

Body Paragraph #2:

·         The prisoner and Estelle are similar in the sense, they don’t really realize that they are trapped and their surrounding is “hell” even if it’s an empty room or a cave with fire. The prisoners have a narrow mind which they don’t realize because when they are enlightened with the newfound knowledge, they are able to proceed with freedom. In No Exit, Estelle is unable to escape, but she also comes to a realization that she was really in hell because of Inez and Garcin. Garcin says, “Hell is other people,” meaning the people around brings hell to you. At the end, both the prisoner and Estelle are enlightened by the understanding of their life.

Conclusion:

·         Estelle is very stubborn in a way she can’t comprehend what is going on. Similar to the prisoners in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, they were unable to understand the word outside of the cave; they believed whatever appeared on the shadow. In Estelle’s case she tries to seduce Garcin and stabs Inez repeatedly on the chest but lacks the understanding of that they are all bound in hell forever. In both Plato and Sartre’s stories, the show ignorance as a barrier and imitation to knowledge.