Week 7 Study Questions

Here are next week's study questions. Be sure to check the previous post for the topics of the short assignments and second essay.

Tuesday: (Camus - The Fall, Nietzsche - The Gay Science, Sartre - No Exit)

1. What is the meaning of the following passage in Camus' The Fall?

For it cannot be said there is no more pity; no, good Lord, we can never stop talking of it. Simply, no one is ever acquitted anymore.

2. In Sartre's No Exit, the characters find themselves in a kind of hell, where they unintentionally serve as each other's torturers. Garcin suggests that if they ignore each other and stay silent, they can avoid bothering each other. Is this true? Why or why not?

3. What is Garcin being punished for?

4. Why does he want to convince Inez that he's not a coward? At one point, Estelle agrees that he isn't a coward--why wasn't Estelle's support enough for him?


Thursday: (finish Sartre - No Exit)

1. What is Inez being punished for? Who is her torturer and why?

2. What is Estelle being punished for?

3. Why is it so important to Estelle to get Garcin's attention? Why isn't Inez' attention enough for her?

4. Are they guilty? If they are, is it for their past actions, or for the way they are acting now?