Hell Is Other People — But Why Exactly?
“Hell Is Other People” wrote Jean Paul Sartre in his novel “No Exit”. The quote has been hailed as the slogan for introverts and a lovely way to explain any sort of discontent or dissatisfaction we encounter with family members, strangers on public transport and our time-stealing co-workers. It also fits snug with the American conception of the existentialist as a sad, lonesome, life-hating frequenter of run-down cafes. One can even imagine Sartre, peering out from the Cafe du Flor, reminiscing about the Nazi Occupation or his time as a POW or any of the many philosopher friends he would come to have a falling out with and exclaim, with a silence that only Beauvoir could register “Hell is other people”.
But what did it really mean? Sartre was a humanist, a socialist socialite, a man who cared deeply about the human condition and would even reflect on his prisoner years fondly, recalling the many nights in which he would sleep with a camaraderie that came from feeling another mans shoulder on his leg. Is this yet another quote that has been neutered by pop culture and misuse to the point in which its meaning has become but an oversimplified motto for people that don’t like other people?
In short, yes.
