The Wall by Jean-Paul Sartre is a short story that takes place during the Spanish Civil War and is written in the first person, stream-of-consciousness point of view.  The events of this story center around the narrator and two companions who are being held as prisoners.  They are being moved, and after questioning, they are put in a cell which is an old hospital being used to hold prisoners.  Later that evening, the three prisoners are told they have been sentenced to death and will be executed by morning.

            Pablo, the storys narrator, keeps an abnormally calm exterior for someone who has just been sentenced to death over a reason he is unsure of.  While the other two captives, Juan and Tom, go through a range of expected emotions, Pablos battle and fears remain in his head.  He ends up losing all feeling and becomes essentially numb, he no longer cares for his friends, girlfriend, and even loses the desire to live all together.

            A doctor and two guards are sent to spend time with the prisoners, and to help ease the feelings and concerns the men might have about their sentence.   It becomes clear to Pablo that this gesture is empty, and almost a mockery, which makes him very angry at the presence of the doctor.   The morning is quickly drawing near, and Pablo still remains calm.  He tries to fight sleep, not wanting to waste any hours of the life he has left.  When daylight draws, the prisoners can hear the constant sound of gunshots in the courtyard and they know that their time is near.

            When the guards enter the cell, they take Tom and Juan but have Pablo moved to another floor.  He is fully aware that Tom and Juan are on their way to be executed.  He is put in a room where he is questioned about the whereabouts of a man named Ramon Gris.  He says he doesnt know, and is told that if he tells where Gris is, he will be saved from execution.  After being given time to think about it, Pablo lies to the guards and says Gris is most likely hiding out in a cemetery (when Pablo knows that Gris is hiding with cousins in the city).  He lies because he does not care to live anymore.

            Pablo is detained while guards check for Gris in the cemetery, and he knows he will be executed upon their return.  However, when the guards return they have him moved to a courtyard, where he sees someone he knows, named Garcia.  Garcia tells Pablo that the guards have captured Ramon Gris that morning.  When Pablo asks what happened, Garcia tells him that Gris left his cousins because of an argument and thought he would have an easy time of finding someone to hide him.  When all the people he would turn to (including Pablo) were taken by the guards, he decided to hide in the cemetery, in the exact location Pablo had described.  Pablo finishes the story by saying Everything began to spin and I found myself sitting on the ground:  I laughed so hard I cried  (Sartre, 259).

            This story highly embodies existentialism.  The best way to show this is through the ERASINGFEF acronym.

Existence before essence This is not a universal situation.  The situation of Pablo and the other prisoners is very specific to location, time period, and circumstance.

Rationality is important Pablo reacts to the situations in his own manner, which is completely opposite to the other two prisoners suffering the same sentence.

Alienation from four things:

Self Pablo becomes uninterested in life itself upon being sentenced to death.  He alienates himself from the desire to live because he knows he will die.

Industrial society Pablo refuses to smoke or drink while being held, he wants to die a Clean death.

Nature Pablo is completely separated from nature by choice of his own.  He seems almost inhumane at some points because he has distanced himself from nature and normal reactions to the circumstances.

God Pablo does not pray, seek wisdom from God or beg for mercy.  He becomes alienated from God an all deity.

Fear and Trembling Pablo, as well as Juan and Tom, go through times of fear, trembling, and anxiety over the execution they are facing in the morning. 

Encounter with nothingness Pablo spends most of his time with this feeling, he separates himself from the world and life that he knew.  He becomes numb and feels nothing.

Freedom In the conclusion of the story, and by accident, Pablo finds the freedom he had completely given up on, and even accepted.  He was already dead inside.  Ironically, the lie he told saved him from the execution that had already killed him.

-Nadia Aires

-Laura-Ashley Olson