Thinking Outside the Box

      Plato's philosophy illustrates man's struggle for enlightenment, being shackled by the false perceptions of society that inhibit us from seeing things in their true form. He has a simple dialogue where he explains his allegory of "the cave" and very neutral responses take the reader through his extended metaphor. On the other hand, Sartre believes that every man's worst enemy is himself, not society's standards, beliefs or perceptions but by their own flaws they are individually restricted in understanding. He uses detailed conversation to create a sense of separate struggle and perception for each character as if to give a taste of a few small puzzle pieces that when put together, have created their own hell. You come to slowly get a picture of how personalized Sartre's hell is, breaking the stereotypical idea of a burning cavern with a river of lava and unimaginable torture used to create only the most horrific experience for all of eternity. This hell is defined by the people you are trapped with, the ones that drive you crazy, you can't find peace and there is no way to get around the unpleasant contrasting feelings that clash constantly as your trapped in a room with no exits, maddeningly reflective of a circumstance that could easily be experienced on earth, but here it last forever. Could Sartre be implying that in life we place ourselves in hell, in situations that we would like nothing more than to get away from, but what do we do to avoid it? the monotonous job, unhappy marriage, leaky house. Our state of mind remains in this neutral state taking it all in, no physical situation should be an excuse for not receiving enlightenment. However, in Sartre's existential analysis of the individual, we see them faced with the choice to define themselves, or be defined by those around them. Plato's allegory parallels this in the aspect where once the individual is enlightened and attempts to share this knowledge and clarity of thought with others, he can either rise above their disbelief and close-minded perceptions, or fall to their blind words and let go of what he now knows and conform to their ideals allowing them to define him.