Sartre on Freedom and Existentialism

Sartre on Freedom and Existentialism in No Exit

Sartre's understanding of freedom can essentially be summed up by a line from the Janis Joplin classic Me and Bobby McGee: "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." To Sartre, having nothing to lose was the ultimate freedom because without attachments to other things and other people, we are free not only do as we choose but to do so without the fear of repercussions or consequences. At the same time however, Sartre asserts that the world itself can have no meaning without the existence of a human presence to perceive it. Yet because we all perceive this meaning in different ways, we cannot rely on others' interpretations to define ourselves.

Nothingness is therefore, in Sartre's view, naturally equated with aloneness. After all, if we are alone, then we have no fears that we will lose the ones we love, and this allows us liberation from the chains of earthly attachments. This outlook can be seen throughout Sartre's famous play No Exit, but can be particularly seen in the famous line: "Hell is other people." This revelation comes at the end of the play when Garcin realizes that he has been doomed to spend eternity with Estelle and Inez, all of whom despise each other but have no chance of every ridding themselves of each other.

This perspective message is laden with paradox. As is stated by Muller (1998):

"Sartre's nothingness, always in danger of lapsing into a thing-like existence while seeking its own security and foundation, cannot fully encounter the thing-like being of others or the physical world (the in-itself). So the for-itself, constantly seeking its own foundation at the expense of others' freedom, remains bound to itself. To the degree it does so, it is unfree. The freedom -- own-foundation paradox in Sartre's ontology is ultimately a statement of a trapped freedom or, perhaps more in keeping with Sartre's spirit, a free entrapment. Sartre's freedom is limited by an element of bondage" (p. 47)

This paradox is emphasized even further by Sartre's understanding of freedom as a curse rather than a blessing. The reason Sartre views freedom as a sentence rather than a privilege is that human beings hate to make decisions because it encompasses too much responsibility. Consequently, in order to avoid this responsibility, man creates an alternate universe in which he can place faith in the hands of a Supreme Being and therefore relieve himself of any responsibility for his actions.

Essentially, Sartre views any type of belief in fate or divine intervention as an elaborate excuse that mankind has constructed for itself in order to avoid being blamed for wrong choices. This is a point which Sartre emphasized in No Exit, when Garcin says to Inez "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." Because it is impossible for one human being to make a move without affecting another human being, other people are the ultimate hell. To believe otherwise is to encourage complacency, which inhibits progress. Therefore the nothingness that Sartre associates with freedom is constrained by the drawbacks that freedom has for society as opposed to the individual. In other words, freedom (i.e. The lack of attachment to other people and things) is beneficial from an individual perspective, but damaging for society as a whole because it hinders advancement.

In reality however, in order to maintain such a belief in our own self-sufficiency and freedom of choice, we would have to rewrite the laws of human nature. As this is highly improbable, we are likely to continue in our flight from freedom for as long as we remain in existence. People are, after all, social creatures by nature and thus, according to Garcin, we "need the suffering of others to exist."

This is Sartre's way of arguing that existentialism is the only valid means of providing mankind with dignity, and life with meaning. Thus at the core of Sartre's suppositions is that the role of existentialism is vitally important in helping the individual to embrace freedom as a manifestation of nothingness and, in turn, restore and sustain his self-respect. This can only be achieved, however, when a true understanding of the equation between freedom and nothingness is reached on both a personal and a collective level.

The characters in No Exit begin to gradually realize that without others to reflect their image back on to them, it is if they do not even exist. Estelle exemplifies this sentiment in the following monologue"

"I've six big mirrors in my bedroom. There they are. I can see them. But they don't see me. They're reflecting the carpet, the settee, the window-- but how empty it is, a glass in which I'm absent! When I talked to people I always made sure there was one near by in which I could see myself. I watched myself talking. And somehow it kept me alert, seeing myself as the others saw me...Oh dear! My lipstick! I'm sure I've put it on all crooked. No, I can't do wihtout a looking-glass for ever and ever. I simply can't."