Bad Faith and the Other: Sartrean Ontology Related to Seeing and Being Seen in No Exit

This research proposes to examine Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy of existentialism and the two main principles, the presence of others and bad faith in one of the great works of literature, No Exit. Sartre in his existential philosophy explained the mere existence of other people will cause trouble and despair and it is a source of torture for human beings. Through repeating his prominent line 'Hell is Other People, Sartre indicates the presence of others, which is always in conflict, causes oneself identity to change and become unauthentic due to what we call as bad faith. However, acceptance and forgiving oneself can be the solution to achieving authenticity and value in life. This is the most highly moral explanation of the condition of human life. By closely examining the characters, Garcin and Inaz, we will conclude that what would be the key factor for this predicament is taking responsibility for past actions and accepting it no matter what. For Sartre, it is the ultimate answer to the absurdity of life.