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Clarence Novak
Ms. Hernandez
Ninth Grade Literature and Composition
16 Oct. 2015
Self-centered Suffering in Gaimans Other People
Jean-Paul Sartre was a French playwright who coined the phrase Hell is other people,
and anyone who has ever been trapped in a room full of people out of obligation knows how true
that statement can be. Though perhaps thats a self centered approach to take regarding
interacting with others. In Other People Neil Gaiman addresses the same idea with a demon
torturing souls in hell. The demon goes through the expected physical torture, but then switches
to mental torture. He uses the mans relationships with other people to give him insight into his
life. In the short story Other People from Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman uses conflict,
description, and situational irony to discuss how introspection can be painful but necessary.
Initially, Gaiman makes use of is conflict to engage the reader and discuss the theme.
Conflict is usually defined as the overarching problem that lasts for most of the story. An
external conflict, problem outside of the main character, is present because the main character is
in hell and facing a demon that tortures him. On the other hand, it soon changes to the man
facing his own sins. When the man says he was heart broken when his wife left him, the demon
challenges him, and the man is forced to look away and reply I thought, now shell never
know Ive been sleeping with her sister (105-6). This shows that the problem for the
protagonist is not only that he is in hell, but also the behavior that got him there. This connects
to the idea that reflecting on life can be painful because the man cant even look at the demon

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when he confesses his real feelings. By confessing though the protagonist is able to begin to
change for the better and the reader can begin to understand how necessary introspection can be.
Another literary device that Gaiman uses to establish that reflection can hurt but is
worthwhile is description. Description is when the author uses words to help the audience
imagine what is happening. The story addresses physical pain first, but it isnt until the demon
starts torturing the man mentally that it connects with the theme. Gaiman states, The demon
took apart his life, moment by moment, instant to awful instant. It lasted a hundred year, perhaps,
or a thousand []He crouched on the floor,[]rocking, gently, his eyes closed, and he told
the story of his life, re-experiencing it as he told it, from birth to death, changing nothing, leaving
nothing out, facing everything. He opened his heart (106). The demon shows the man all his
mistakes completely and repeatedly until there is a change of heart. The description of the man
curled up and rocking back and forth on the floor shows that the main character is in pain as he
watches his life play out. However, it also shows how this review is worth doing because the
mans pain stops once he sees the truth of his life and faces his mistakes. This then sets the stage
for the unexpected ending and the final literary device Gaiman uses to make the theme clear.
The most powerful device utilized in Other People might be situational irony.
Situational irony is when the author provides an ending that the audience did not expect. The
ending says, Slowly, he stood up. He was alone. At the far end of the room, there was terror in
the mans face, and arrogance, and pride. The man, who wore expensive clothes took several
hesitant steps into the room, and then stopped. When he saw the man, he understood. Time is
fluid here, he told the new arrival. (107) The he in the quote is the tortured man who arrived
in hell at the beginning of the story. This man notices that the demon that was once with him is
gone. Then a new arrogant looking man joins him. The audience knows that the last words are

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exactly the same as the opening. By doing this, the author signals to the reader that the main
character is now a demon. This is a twist ending because the audience does not expect the
victim to become torturer. This use of situational irony supports the idea that introspection can be
painful but necessary because it shows that even though the main character has suffered in
examining his mistakes in life, he still sees enough value in the examination to help someone
else do it.
Gaimans Other People is an interesting text in that it explores how soul-searching
might might hurt at first, but can lead to a greater understanding of the self. Neil Gaimans use
of internal conflict, description, and situational irony make it clear that the process can be so
rewarding that it makes people want to share the experience. In the story, suffering lead to the
protagonist having a better understanding of himself and the way life should be lived. Gaiman
seems to take Jean-Paul Sartres idea that hell is other people and turn it on its side to make all
readers wonder whether or not we ourselves are not the hell in other peoples lives.

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Works Cited
Gaiman, Neil. "Other People." Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders. New York: William
Morrow, 2006. 104-07. Print.