Blog Post #3 Topic #1 Amy Joo

ESTRAGON:

Charming spot. (He turns, advances to front, halts facing auditorium.) Inspiring prospects. (He turns to Vladimir.) Let's go.

VLADIMIR:

We can't.

ESTRAGON:

Why not?

VLADIMIR:

We're waiting for Godot.

ESTRAGON:

(despairingly). Ah! (Pause.) You're sure it was here?

VLADIMIR:

What?

ESTRAGON:

That we were to wait.

VLADIMIR:

He said by the tree. (They look at the tree.) Do you see any others?

ESTRAGON:

What is it?

VLADIMIR:

I don't know. A willow.

ESTRAGON:

Where are the leaves?

VLADIMIR:

  It must be dead.

ESTRAGON:

No more weeping.

VLADIMIR:

Or perhaps it's not the season.

ESTRAGON:

Looks to me more like a bush.

VLADIMIR:

A shrub.

ESTRAGON:

A bush.

VLADIMIR:

A—. What are you insinuating? That we've come to the wrong place?

ESTRAGON:

He should be here.

“Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett is an Absurdist play, which is presented by Vladimir and Estragon who try to find a purpose in life. Although the dialogues above are short, they clearly represent the whole play, describing the setting, the role of the time, the relationship between the characters, and the metaphor for life.

Solely through the several dialogues of the two characters, one can assume where the play is held at and how the time plays a role here. The two characters are waiting for Godot by the tree. They are not sure at which specific tree they are supposed to be waiting and eventually think that they are at a wrong place. This is because when Estragon asks, “Where are the leaves [of the willow]?” (Beckett), Vladimir simply assumes that it must be dead. They cannot assure themselves that the leaves are gone because it is not the season; rather, they try to conclude that it is instead either a bush or a shrub. Their confusion with the willow season shows that they are not familiar with the time change. They do not seem to know in what period of the year they are living and thus do not know what a willow is supposed to look like now. In this play, the time is not important as it is cyclical. The characters do the same thing every day; they only wait for Godot. Reading through the tree conservation of Estragon and Vladimir, one can understand that the play is held among trees and that they do not have a clear sense of the time.

The dialogues between Estragon and Vladimir depict that they do not get along quite well but still need each other to achieve the goal of meeting Godot. The two characters are very forgetful; they forget for what purpose they are here. And they get mad at each other when one of them doubts him. However, Beckett still conveys the importance of companionship through their relationship. Vladimir, for example, reminds Estragon that they are waiting for Godot when Estragon tries to leave, and Estragon comforts Vladimir by saying that Godot should be coming when Vladimir doubts about the waiting spot. The whole play teaches the audience the values of having a companion; sometimes a companion can trigger more conflicts but often time encourages one another. And by reading through only the several dialogues between the two characters, one can see their lasting relationship and their need for it.

Beckett’s lesson on metaphor for life can be understood through the conversations as well. One can see that Estragon and Vladimir do not know what time period they are in because they get confused with the tree season too. They are so overwhelmed with the repetitive and mundane period of waiting for Godot that they think of life as a cycle of same actions and eventually forget that the nature appears differently based on the time. The two characters’ lives represent those of people in this today’s society as well. We go to work or school every day, and our main goal is to earn success. Therefore, in a negative perspective, our life is only stagnant and boring as that of the two characters in the play, and there is no meaning in our life. The close reading of the part of the story deliberately illustrates our negative part of the life and shows similarities to life right now.

The brief part of the play clearly delivers the setting, the role of the time, the relationship with Estragon and Vladimir, and finally the metaphor for life. And thus this well represents the whole play “Waiting for Godot” in less than 20 lines.

Word Count: 617