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Julie Kim Ms.Grilo ENG3UC-03 December 14th, 2012 The Wall: Constraints in Human Life Life is not always a happily-ever-after story with romantic momentsit is more similar to a thriller full of unexpected affairs. Humans occasionally are confronted unavoidable obstacles that they are responsible to overcome. Jean Paul Sartre's short story, "The Wall" is a great example of this. It provides the reader with explicit details of the narrator, Pablo Ibbieta, demonstrating the lack of freedom and the extreme issues he is faced with. Most importantly, Sartre illustrates the emotional, social, and physical constraints life places on an individual. The first predominant feature is Pablo Ibbieta's emotion. The emotional limitation of Pablo is that he neither can accept nor disregard his situation. At this moment, Pablo displays his anxiety: "[...] the circle of light disappeared and I felt myself crushed under an enormous weight. (232) He carefully assembles light to himselfas a light of a lamp vanishes, he is definitely discerning that hes going to fade away in any soon. On the other hand, he addresses that he is not feeling strained due to the thought of death, or fear; it was nameless." (232) To add, the unknown pressure is perhaps his conscious trying to deny the situation. The two opposing aspects of Pablos emotion ultimately create a contradiction. They also accentuate that life establishes two barriers on ones both pathways; following ones conscious and following the expected consequence. Moreover, there are many objects that clearly reflect Pablo's psychological instability. For instance, he

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states "the bench, the lamp, [and] the pile of coal dust" (239) drive him to feel confident about his death. In this case, he considers the objects as components of living things: the bench refers to an object an individual sits on and both lamp and coal dusts refer to materials that provide warmth and light to an individual. Pablo is implying that he is gradually detaching himself from every living feature. However, it is ironic because he does not act as a man who is facing deathhe behaves very calm. Again, Pablo is not free to have neither feelings as a response to his situation. Therefore, such absurd evinces inevitable limitation that life puts on. Secondly, the social strain is portrayed through the historical context and Pablos political position during the Spanish Civil War. At the end of the story, audiences may realize that Pablos status is different than the other two prisoners: I knew [Ramon Gris] was more useful than I to the cause of Spain [] but I thought to hell with Spain and anarchy; nothing was important. I could save my skin and give up Gris and I refused to do it. (243) Since Pablo is arrested only because he is accused of hiding his colleague, Ramon, he has choice to live where as other two are not. It is because he is subconsciously feeling responsible as a citizen although he says he is not concerning about the future of Spain anymore. This presents Pablo cannot destroy and deviate from the shackle life locked him, which is political responsibility and human duty. After Pablo notify the authorities where Ramon Gris is, he gets released from the cellar and meets his hometown friend, Garcia. He comments that "[the falangistas] arrest everybody who doesn't think the way they do."(244) This informs audiences that each individual is not respected with human rights during this period. Interestingly, such autocratic and merciless subdue frequently occurs nowadays too. For example, in North Korea, citizens rights are heavily restricted. Not only

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their political movement is restricted, but also their any private opinion is prohibited. Anyone who goes against the government, one gets executed. Therefore, Sartre's depiction of Pablo's self being regulated by the society becomes a universal event, and at the same time, it sets a realistic tone. Lastly, the physical confinement that Pablo and his companions suffer unfolds through the symbolism of the wall and the hospital cellar. As one can immediately notice, the title of the story is "The Wall"; it is natural to perceive that the protagonist is going to encounter a life barrier even before reading it. Sartre also utilizes symbol of the wall in Toms speech: "I'll think how I'd like to get inside the wall, I'll push against it with my back... with every ounce of strength I have, but the wall will stay, like in a night mare." (234) At this moment, Tom expresses his feeling to Pablo and it can be clearly seen that he is trembling with fear of death. Tom is at the edge of a cliff of death where he can neither move forward nor move backward; no matter how much effort he makes, he cannot tear down the barrier. In the contrary, as it was said in the preceding paragraph, Pablo has choice to live but he refuses it. This explains whether one chooses to live or not, life does not free one and confine in a life prison, even physically. Additionally, the old hospital cellar evokes a feeling of a live tomb. On the surface, unlike other two prisoners, Pablo is indifferent about his situation. However, his physique proves that he is certainly in panic just as typical humans would be: "I was drenched in sweat. In this cellar in the midst of winter [] this is the manifestation of an almost pathological state of terror."(233) Sweating is a clear physical indication of ones anxiety. Pablo is imprisoned in an old hospital, where death and alive both exist. It cannot be determined that he is going to live or not, but he is certainly anxious about the predictable catastrophe. Up to this point, Pablo has observed the two other prisoners who

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became immortal due to the fear of death. He denies that he is like the other two prisoners. Nevertheless, his body let him knows his inner fear, the one that he is trying to suppress. Hence, the setting of the story manifests incongruity between physique and conscious and thus emphasizes the obstacle one can never destruct. In conclusion, "The Wall" presents three different limitations that Pablo suffers: emotional, social, and physical. The evidences of his psyche and physique are the ones that audiences can easily observe; they both convey a sense of extinction although he is still alive. Furthermore, the environment that Pablo is situated in exerts oppression. It establishes a wall between his will and the compulsory political and social obligation. Thus, The Wall grants a great opportunity to understand the effect of the indestructible universal obstacles to audiences.

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Work Cited Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Wall. The Best Short Stories of the Modern Age. Ed. Douglas Angus. New York: The Random House, 1974. 217-244. Print.