32. Sartre said “Hell is other people,” while Streisand sang, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” With whom do you agree? (Amherst)
My blogs are meant to be about the people or events that influence me in my life. This question strikes me as particularly interesting that the whole human population, especially those that I have come into contact with, have influenced me in my encounters with them to agree with Sartre and say that "Hell is other people."
We can always dream of a utopian system and society, but we all know that there is no such thing as one. There are so many different types of conflicts going around the world that it is difficult to keep track of them. Let's take two examples that have recently struck my attention. I recently watched our spring play "Around The World in 80 Days," where a woman was forced into a sacrificial ceremony called a sati. This is when a wife is sacrificed along with her husband when he dies. It's supposed to be a good thing so that the man and wife can be together for eternity. Though this sacrifice is one that is voluntary, the play showed one woman being forced into the act by a group of saddus, or Hindu priests. She was yelling and screaming, begging them not to sacrifice her, but no one listening. The protagonist of the play, heard this, and attempted to save her, but his servant was ahead of him, and saved her himself. The second example, I give you is about a man named Joseph Kony. You all must have heard about him and his horrible deeds, but if you haven't, here is the sneak peak. His rebel in Sudan, who is trying to overthrow the government of the country. He is the leader of the militant group and has "recruited" child soldiers into working for him as his militants. What is so cruel about him, is that he abducts these children late at night from his families and takes them into his own custody, justifying that he will be able to give them a better life than the children's peasant parents. He brainwashes these children into massacring thousands of people, forcing them to kill their own parents. The boys are used as soldiers in his army, and the girls are used as sex slaves for the older soldiers in his militant group.
These two examples can clearly give you an idea that "hell is other people," but if you don't believe me, take a look around yourselves. Ask yourselves whether you've ever been talked about behind your back, whether you've been left alone or ditched, or whether you've been hurt by a group of friends? I'm sure all of you sitting here reading this can nod your head at least once and relate with the idea that there are people out there who have hurt you, betrayed you, or disappointed you. There isn't many people that you can rely on because people always think about themselves first. The survival of the fittest clearly show us that this is true. Nature and evolution has clearly shown us that the organism that is more fit to survive in the ever-changing world will be more dominant and be more likely to make offspring than the weaker one.
We seem to have grown up in a world where we've learnt to need people. Yes, you can say that we want them. We want companionship, we want friendship, and we need love, but more than this, it can be shown that we need companionship, friendship, and love to feel part of the world today. We need others to feel "alive" and we need others to feel a sense of security. Hell is only made other people with the idea that we need them in the our lives. The more importance we give to them, the more the things they do and say affect us. So, in fact, hell is other people, but only because we make them so important.
Number of Words: 652
My blogs are meant to be about the people or events that influence me in my life. This question strikes me as particularly interesting that the whole human population, especially those that I have come into contact with, have influenced me in my encounters with them to agree with Sartre and say that "Hell is other people."
We can always dream of a utopian system and society, but we all know that there is no such thing as one. There are so many different types of conflicts going around the world that it is difficult to keep track of them. Let's take two examples that have recently struck my attention. I recently watched our spring play "Around The World in 80 Days," where a woman was forced into a sacrificial ceremony called a sati. This is when a wife is sacrificed along with her husband when he dies. It's supposed to be a good thing so that the man and wife can be together for eternity. Though this sacrifice is one that is voluntary, the play showed one woman being forced into the act by a group of saddus, or Hindu priests. She was yelling and screaming, begging them not to sacrifice her, but no one listening. The protagonist of the play, heard this, and attempted to save her, but his servant was ahead of him, and saved her himself. The second example, I give you is about a man named Joseph Kony. You all must have heard about him and his horrible deeds, but if you haven't, here is the sneak peak. His rebel in Sudan, who is trying to overthrow the government of the country. He is the leader of the militant group and has "recruited" child soldiers into working for him as his militants. What is so cruel about him, is that he abducts these children late at night from his families and takes them into his own custody, justifying that he will be able to give them a better life than the children's peasant parents. He brainwashes these children into massacring thousands of people, forcing them to kill their own parents. The boys are used as soldiers in his army, and the girls are used as sex slaves for the older soldiers in his militant group.
These two examples can clearly give you an idea that "hell is other people," but if you don't believe me, take a look around yourselves. Ask yourselves whether you've ever been talked about behind your back, whether you've been left alone or ditched, or whether you've been hurt by a group of friends? I'm sure all of you sitting here reading this can nod your head at least once and relate with the idea that there are people out there who have hurt you, betrayed you, or disappointed you. There isn't many people that you can rely on because people always think about themselves first. The survival of the fittest clearly show us that this is true. Nature and evolution has clearly shown us that the organism that is more fit to survive in the ever-changing world will be more dominant and be more likely to make offspring than the weaker one.
We seem to have grown up in a world where we've learnt to need people. Yes, you can say that we want them. We want companionship, we want friendship, and we need love, but more than this, it can be shown that we need companionship, friendship, and love to feel part of the world today. We need others to feel "alive" and we need others to feel a sense of security. Hell is only made other people with the idea that we need them in the our lives. The more importance we give to them, the more the things they do and say affect us. So, in fact, hell is other people, but only because we make them so important.
Number of Words: 652
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