 "five characters in search of an exit" is an episode of the television series the twilight zone. ==opening narration==  ==plot== a uniformed army major wakes up to find himself trapped inside in a large metal cylinder, where he meets a hobo, a ballet dancer, a bagpiper, and a clown. none of them have any memory of who they are or how they became trapped. the major, being the newest arrival, is the most determined to escape. he is told there is no way out except the ceiling, which is too high to reach but nonetheless he investigates and perseveres. the major's questioning reveals that the characters have no need for food or water and indeed feel nothing in general, except for pain. the characters question where, what and who they are. the ballerina informs the major, "we are in the darkness; nameless things with no memoryâno knowledge of what went before, no understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be." guesses are made about the nature of where they have been placed: the ballerina speculates that they are on another planet or a spaceship or that they are insane and are perceiving a mirage; the hobo that they are all dead and in limbo; the bagpiper that they do not exist but are dream figures of somebody else's imagination; while the clown, who ironically, seems to be the most reasoning of them all, claims they are all players in each other's dreams, but then suggests the answers to these questions are infinite, thus unsolvable and immaterial. the major then concludes that they a
1961_television_episodes Adaptations_of_works_by_Luigi_Pirandello Sentient_toys_in_fiction The_Twilight_Zone_(1959_TV_series)_episodes