Hell is other people 他人即是地狱

“Hell Is Other People” wrote Jean Paul Sartre in his novel “No Exit”. The quote has been hailed as the slogan for introverts and a lovely way to explain any sort of discontent or dissatisfaction we encounter with family members, strangers on public transport and our time-stealing co-workers. 【“他人就是地狱”这句话，出自萨特的作品《无路可走》。人们没有弄明白这句话的语境，就断章取义。】

So where does that quote “Hell is Other People” come from? In “No Exit” Sartre has three characters trapped in a room together. Most of the play, each character express a longing to escape the watchful gaze of the other. Except they can’t. Because they’re dead and the room is hell. 【其实，《无路可走》描述了被困在一个房间里的三个角色，他们渴望逃离他人的注视，却一点办法也没有。因为他们已经死了，而这个房间就是地狱。】

It’s not literally the idea that other people are hellish. It’s the idea that once we die, we’re permanently trapped in other’s interpretations of us. When we’re alive we can still do things like pretend we’re tying our shoe. But once we’re dead, we can no longer speak for our actions. 【所以，“他人就是地狱”并不是说，我们日常生活中的他人来自地狱。它只是一种提醒，一旦我们死了，我们就永远被困于他人对自己的诠释（注视）之中。只要我们还活着，我们总还是可以做些事情来证明自己。只有死人，才无法为自己的行为辩护。】