1. Garcin: “Yes, my wife. She’s waiting at the entrance of the barracks. She comes there every day. But they won’t let her in. Now she’s trying to peep between the bars. She doesn’t yet know I’m absent, but she suspects it…Those big tragic eyes of hers-with that martyred look they always had. Oh, how she got on my nerves.”
-The quote selected here has important meaning for several reasons. Namely, it reveals much about Garcin’s character, as well as foreshadows the realization that he abused his wife. Also, the quote provides a good deal of information regarding Garcin’s past life.
2. Inez: “Suppose I try to be your glass? Come and pay me a visit, dear. Here’s a place for you on my sofa.”
-This statement, made to Estelle from Inez, is symbolic of the theme of the play. Throughout the play, the characters consistently try to look at mirrors in order to avoid the glances of their peers. As Inez attempts to gain influence over Estelle, she offers to be her mirror. Following that, Inez tells her that she has a pimple on her lower lip. The entire scene proves the extent to which the characters will go in order to manipulate and gain control over each other. The idea that someone else’s opinion can define what you are acts as another important idea of existentialism.
3. Garcin: “You’re crazy, both of you. Don’t you see where this is leading us? For pity’s sake, keep your mouths shut. Now let’s all sit down again quite quietly; we’ll look at the floor and each must try to forget the others are there.”
-Garcin’s statement here is symbolic of his calmness and willingness to accept his situation. Of all three prisoners, Garcin is the most willing to accept what has happened. Though he makes many attempts throughout the play to calm down and live peacefully with the other prisoners, he is always overruled. The idea of looking at the floor also has great significance. As a large part of the symbolism in this play comes from the idea that each of the prisoners is being judged under the gaze of the others. Thus, as Garcin instructs them all to look at the floor, he is also implying that none of the three should judge each other.
4. Garcin: “Inez, they’ve laid their snare damned cunningly-like a cobweb. If you make any movement, if you raise your hand to fan yourself, Estelle and I feel a little tug. Alone, none of us can save himself or herself; we’re linked together inextricably. So, you can take your choice.”
-This quote represents the first real attempt by the three prisoners of trying to help each other and escape their confinement. However, despite Garcin’s ideas regarding freedom and escape, he is woefully underpowered in dealing with the forces that are present in the play. Nonetheless, Garcin does succeed in forming somewhat of a bond between the three, and uniting them in at least the idea of escaping from their prison.
5. Inez: “Nothing, whatever. Nothing of you’s left on earth-not even a shadow. All you own is here. Would you like that paper-knife? Or that ornament on the mantelpiece? That blue sofa’s yours. And I, my dear, am yours forever.
-The statement selected here by Inez is deeply symbolic of the play’s central theme. Namely, all of the characters have passed out of “existence” meaning that all of them are reduced to the very essence of their personality. However, as they are no longer living and have no impact on the physical world, from an existential viewpoint, the characters are nothing. Inez makes this point quite clearly in her statement to Estelle. When she says that, “all you own is here” she is referring to the idea that the characters no longer have any possession of their own, everything that they once had or accomplished in life (existence) is now dead and gone, leaving only their “essence”. All of theses such ideals are directly related to existential philosophy.
6. Estelle: “Your crystal? It’s grotesque. Do you think you can fool me with that sort of talk? Everyone knows by now what I did to my baby. The crystal’s shattered, but I don’t care. I’m just a hollow dummy, all that’s left of me is the outside-but it’s not for you.”
-Through this quote, Estelle makes her point that she is not to be idealized. She has come to the realization that all three of the prisoners are tainted in their own way. Also, although she initially denied the reason as to why she was sent to hell, this quote represents her thoughts that the truth should be shared between the three prisoners, as they are all basically in the same situation. However, at the same time, Estelle is making her point that she is not going to be swayed or influenced by Inez, even through death, she is her own person and will not take influence or pressure from another force, especially a malevolent and manipulative one such as Inez.
7. Inez: “Can’t you guess? Well, I can. He wants you to tell him that he bolted like a lion. For “bolt” he did, and that’s what’s biting him.”
-Although it is a very short quote, Inez’s statement contains a lot of meaning and significance for the character of Garcin. Although Garcin repeatedly makes mention to the fact that he is not a coward, he has come to understand that it was cowardice which cost him his life. Also, Garcin is seeking retribution and forgiveness of some sort for his past actions. He needs someone else to acknowledge the fact that he was a coward in life. In the same manner, he feels that it is now his responsibility to overcome his fears that he once had and conquer many of the things that once held him back through death. It is very interesting to note that perhaps the only reason that Garcin does not leave the room when the door is flung open is so that he can prove to Inez that he is no longer a coward.
8. Garcin: “But they won’t forget me, not they! They’ll die, but others will come after them to carry on the legend. I’ve left my fate in their hands.”
-With this statement, Garcin is making a reference to the idea that so long as he is remembered in anyway on Earth, or in the living realm, then he will not be allowed to have a peaceful rest. Inez and Estelle, on the other hand, were quickly forgotten about and thus their memories and thoughts faded rapidly from the real, or existing world. Unlike the other characters though, Garcin had a much more memorable past, it is very unlikely that he will be forgotten about with the same pace as befell the other characters. Thus, when Garcin talks about his fate being in “their hands” he is referring to the idea that his memory and legacy are in the hands of his peers and rivals.
9. Estelle: “Oh, how mean you are! Yes, it’s quite true you’re a coward.”
-Estelle, through her statement here, is acknowledging Garcin’s wish to be formally named a coward. After his situation has been properly evaluated and judged, perhaps he feels that he can finally begin to make a new start and correct some of his past mistakes and attitudes. Nonetheless, Garcin still remains a prisoner, even when the door to the room is thrown open and he is free to go, although he is unsure as to where. However, more than that it possesses any other meaning, Estelle’s statement confirms the idea that Garcin was indeed a coward in his past life.
10. Garcin: “Hell is-other people!”
-Perhaps the most important line in any work of existentialist literature, let alone the play, “Hell is-other people” is not only the theme of the play, and it is the central idea behind a large part of existential thought and philosophy. While that statement has been echoed many times in literary analyses and works of literary importance, it was first conceived and written by author Jean-Paul Sartre in his play, No Exit. While “Hell is-other people is defiantly the main theme of the work, it possesses several other important meanings as well. For instance, most literary critics site the idea that this play was a symbolic representation of the time that Sartre spent as a prisoner of war in France after German soldiers occupied it during World War II.
