Waiting for Godot
Uploaded by london28 on Dec 11, 2004
For many years, people have been searching for answers regarding the purpose of human existence. The answers often seem impossible to find because people do not know how or where to begin looking. Their desperation to discover their own true purpose causes them to believe that their being is imposed upon them by unknown forces. These forces allow people to continue their search for meaning even when their situations seem hopeless. “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett is a play that captures the fate of human existence as people depend on chaos, hope and chance to provide their lives with purpose and meaning as they continue to wait for salvation.
The world in which the main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, exist contains no orderly sequence of events. Chaos is shown as the actions in the first act occur similarly in the second act without any recollection of them ever happening before. The two tramps continue to return to the same place day after day to wait for Godot. The tree that serves as the only setting to their humble place is bare one day and flowers with leaves the next. None of the characters seem to have any memory of the happenings the day before. The sun quickly fades to reveal night and the reality that Godot hasn’t come. Although Beckett only shows his audience two days in the life of Vladimir and Estragon, it is believed that these two characters have been and will continue to repeat the same actions day after day until what they are waiting for has arrived.
Chaos is also shown in the differentiation between Pozzo and Lucky within the time that they disappear from the stage. The first time Pozzo and Lucky meet Vladimir and Estragon, Pozzo is on his way to the market to sell him slave. Pozzo is healthy and wishes to sell Lucky who has gone from being an enjoyable slave to one who is just utterly annoying. The next day when the same characters meet in the same place, the whole situation has changed. Vladimir happens to be the only person who remembers the events of the past day. Pozzo is now blind and Lucky mute. Pozzo is dependent on Lucky to lead him and would never dream of giving...