"The Wall" by Jean-Paul Sartre ESSAY HELP?

Question

http://perso.orange.fr/chabrieres/texts/sartre_thewall.html

That is the story I have to write an essay on. It's an interesting story but it's short and I'm having trouble thinking of a thesis. Was considering working with the theme of death and the thought of death on humans. Any suggestions? Comments?

Answer 1

"The Wall" basically outlines Satre's philosophy on existentialism. I think I would take that angle. I think the theme of death from an existentialist's view is perfect.

Answer 2

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RE:
"The Wall" by Jean-Paul Sartre ESSAY HELP?
http://perso.orange.fr/chabrieres/texts/sartre_thewall.html

That is the story I have to write an essay on. It's an interesting story but it's short and I'm having trouble thinking of a thesis. Was considering working with the theme of death and the thought of death on humans. Any...

Answer 3

John Paul Jones

Answer 4

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Death

Death is one of the most important themes in "The Wall." When he is sentenced to death, Pablo looks at life in a completely new way.

The people that had once meant so much to him no longer matter. He also views his remaining few hours as the beginning of his death. He even comes to the conclusion that death is not natural, for people lead their lives under the presumption that they will continue to live; as he puts it, people maintain "the illusion of being eternal."

While in his cell, Pablo also takes the opportunity to think about how others react to the inevitability of death. He compares how Tom and Juan deal with their impending executions: Juan is fearful of death and afraid of suffering; Tom tries to imagine what being shot will be like, but he cannot conceive it because he envisions himself as an eyewitness to his own death.

When Pablo is brought in front of the Falangist officers again in the morning, he finds t.....



Jean-Paul Sartre is best known as a philosopher, an existentialist who mixed with the likes of Simone de Beauvoir. But he was also a fiction writer, his most famous and best novel being ‘Nausea,’ published in 1938. ‘Nausea’ was his first novel. ‘The Wall,’ a collection of short fiction, was published a year later. The characters in these stories suffer alienation in different ways. In the title story, ‘The Wall,’ three men have been condemned to death. They share a cell with a Belgian doctor who appears to be there for their benefit, but in fact is observing their mental descent as their last night passes, and dawn and a firing squad approaches. The setting is Spain and the backdrop is the Spanish Civil War. One of the condemned men is an Irishman, a member of the International Brigade. Another is the younger brother of a wanted man. The main character, Pablo, is condemned because of his association with another wanted man.
As the hours pass, the men are forced to think of their impending death. They literally piss themselves. The youngest worries about the torture stories he’s heard about the Falangists (Spanish Fascists) who hold them prisoner. He wonders how much it will hurt to die. Pablo grows to dislike his fellow inmates. There’s no camaraderie in death. Meanwhile, the Belgian doctor scribbles down their reactions with detachment and objectivity. The wall itself is the wall of the firing squad and the cell. It’s the wall between life and death. It’s also a wall of detachment and objectivity as exhibited by the doctor.

Memories seem unimportant to Pablo now. The woman he loves no longer seems important. Death itself is an aberration, almost impossible to conceive. But psychologically the characters do pass from life to death before the guards come to take them away. However, there is an ironic twist to the ending.