“Veil of Illusion”
Simone De Beauvoir explains, “Those who have accepted the dualism have established a hierarchy between body and soul which permits of considering as negligible the part of the self which cannot be saved. They have denied death, either by integrating it with life or by promising to man immortality. Or, again they have denied life, considering it as a veil of illusion beneath which is hidden the truth of Nirvana.” The veil denotes the obscurity of death. The soul lies beneath the veil; hence, its endurance after a body’s expiration underwrites man’s immortality. Moreover, the veil is invisible to human beings; they speculate about its existence using the soul.
Uproot
Simone De Beauvoir writes, “By uprooting himself from the world, man makes himself present to the world and makes the world present to him. I should like to be the landscape which I am contemplating, I should like this sky, this quiet water to think themselves within me, that it might be I whom they express in flesh and bone, and I remain at a distance.” The metaphorical ‘uprooting’ denotes the act of separating one self’s being from the surrounding world. Philosophically, the uprooting is spiritual for one cannot remove himself from the world literally or absolutely, because if it happens, that man will cease to exist.
“Wild Flight”
Simone De Beauvoir explains, “No project has meaning in the world disclosed by such an existence. Man is defined as a wild flight. The world about him is bare and incoherent. Nothing ever happens; nothing merits desire or effort. The sub-man makes his way across a world deprived of meaning toward a death which merely confirms his long negation of himself." Comparing man to a 'wild flight' depicts his innate tendency of exploring the world freely. Existence is similar to a 'wild flight' which man embarks on after birth. The wildness of the flight is attributed to the myriad of incoherent realities which man strives to fully comprehend in the course of his existence.
Appetites
Simone De Beauvoir remarks, “As we have seen, if the oppressor were aware of the demands of his own freedom, he himself should have to denounce oppression. But he is dishonest; in the name of the serious or of his passions, of his will for power or of his appetites, he refuses to give up his privileges.” Appetites connotes an oppressor’s desire to persecute others. Oppressors can desist from harassing others once they put themselves in the shoes of the persons whom they oppress. Insincere oppressors feel that their freedom is more significant than other people’s.
“Blind Force”
Simone De Beauvoir elucidates, “Thus, here is the oppressor oppressed in turn; and the men who do violence to him in their turn become masters, tyrants, and executioners: in revolting, the oppressed are metamorphosed into a blind force, a brutal fatality; the evil which divides the world is carried out in their own hearts." Transformation of oppressed persons into 'a blind force' is linked to the repercussions of oppression. Unconscious revolution, which arises from the distress they endure due to their subjugation, pains them to the degree that they harbor evilness in their hearts. They hunger for revenge due to the pain they have been subjected to by their oppressors.
