"Thinking Outside the Box"

When I first read "No Exit" by Sartre, I actually thought it was pretty different than the "Allegory of the Cave" by Plato. One was about prisoners chained up in a cave, and the other was about three strangers in a room meant to be hell. However, as I looked into it more, I saw similarities. They both had to do with the human mind and thoughts, and how we perceive things. In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", it contrasts what we believe is true..to what is actually reality. It gives the idea that everything we see and think is reality is just an imperfect reflection of something bigger. In Sartre's "No Exit", it basically showed that people create their own hell, either in their mind or because of other people. All three of the people were waiting to be tortured...they didnt realize that they were already in the midst of it. They began to wonder if this situation was random, or if everything was planned out to lead all three of them to that very moment. In that room they had to "live without eyelids" or in other words they couldnt blink and get a temporary break. They were stuck there forever without rest or freedom from one another.
When Garcin was asking the valet if it was daytime outside, he acted like the concept of outside didn't exist to him. All he knew were the rooms and passages inside those walls. This reminded me of the "Allegory of the cave". One of the prisoners knew of something bigger. Something beyond what everyone else could see, but people are so closed minded that they arent willing to consider the idea that there could be something more. Garcin had the chance to leave when the door opened but he didnt do it. This relates to the prisoners not wanting to go out of the cave into the light. People are scared of the unknown. This reminded me of what Inez had said earlier. -"there was some point in being afraid before, while one still had hope." The three people didnt know what was going on, but they knew they were there to be tortured. It seems like they already would have lost hope...so what did they really have to be afraid of?...