Waiting For Godot
Thinking Activity
This blog is a thinking activity given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I am going to answer some questions which are mentioned in the task.
Waiting for Godot
"Waiting for Godot'' as a tragicomedy written by Samuel Beckett, this play written in two acts, published in 1952 in French as 'An attendant Godot' and first produced in 1953. This play is recognised as an innovation in Drama and Theatre of Absurd first theatrical Success.
1.1
Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in act 2 on the barren tree The tree has four five leaves?
In this play Vladimir and Estragon they both wait on a barren road. That scene was decorated by only a tree. Here The tree, symbolized as change and death. It reveals the difference between Vladimir and Estragon.
When Vladimir returns to the scene in Arct II, Vladimir notices the tree’s new four or five leaves where before it was barren and concluded dead. That growing leaves is a sign of hope and positivity in that hopeless situation.
Vladimir's anxiety about the tree signifies his awareness of how strange that a tree suddenly has life, and suddenly growing some leaves on the tree. On the other side Estragon ignores Vladimir’s attempts to show the new leaves.
1.2
Can we do any political reading of the play if we see European nations represented by the 'names' of the characters (Vladimir - Russia, Estragon - France, Pozzo - Italy, and Lucky- England) what interpretation can be inferred from the play written just after world war 2? Which country stands for 'Godot'?
Interpreting 'Waiting for Godot' as a political allegory is a matter of literary criticism and it can be subject to debate. All those countries were waiting for something good to come out. What actually came out was world war 2 and the rise of Hitler, in the form of Godot.
So we can say that Hitler was standing as Godot when we politically interpret this play if this play was written just after world war 2.
1.3
In act 1, in reply to Boy's question
Boy : what am I to tell mr. Godot sir ?
Vladimir : Tell him… (he hesitates)... Tell him that you saw us. (pause). You did see us, didn't you?
How does this conversation go in act 2? What is the significance ?
The significance of this repetition represents the circular nature of Waiting for Godot. There were the same conversations and events were continuously repeated without resolution. It also represents the theme of uncertainty and how they both depend on the boy's testimony and they wanted to confirm that the boy had seen them, and that kind of confirmation that they exist. They wanted their waiting not in vain.
1.4
In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises.
How would you interpret this 'coming of night and moon' when actually they are waiting for Godot?
The coming of night and moon symbolize characters' continuing waiting and also it represents that character's existential uncertainty.
The darkness and the moonlight represents the cycle of life and the passage of time. The both characters are trapped in this endless waiting and hoping that Godot will come one day. So in one sense the coming of night and moon are seen as metaphors, it is a search for meaning and purpose in that purposeless and meaningless situation.
So we can say that the coming night and moon basically represent their search for purpose and meaning of their life.
1.5
What is the meaning of the terms Apathia, Aphasia and Athambia in Lucky's Speech?"...
divine Apathia divine athambia divine Aphasia. Loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown…"
In Waiting for Godot, Lucky's speech is long and it also includes nonsensical terms, like "apathia," "aphasia," and "athambia." These terms created a sense of confusion.
Apathia means a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
Athambia means impartibility, to be incapable of being upset or not easily excited.
And lastly, aphasia means loss of the ability to comprehend or express speech.
These three words characterize God as impersonal. When he uses the word divine, he is referring to God as God is often portrayed as a divine being. So he is saying that God is apathetic, meaning that he does not intervene. God is imperturbable; he has never been reached or could be reached by living human beings. And God is aphasic, meaning that he is silent and has never spoken and never will, even to prove his very own existence.
1.6
A better solution to the tramps predicament than to wait is sucide." it is really so? What they fail to commit suicide ?
In this play sucide is mentioned by the characters, but it is not a visible solution to their predicament. When Vladimir suggested that they should die and hang themself, they quickly refused that idea, because Estragon fritten to hang himself. The idea that sucide is better than waiting is not really a valid interpretation of the play. They just try to hang himself but they don't really do it.
This play represents the complex condition of human beings. Both characters struggle to find meaning and purpose in this meaningless world.
1.7
"Godot might have become an image of what sartre calls "Bad Faith".
Sartre's concept of "Bad Faith" refers to denying one's own freedom and responsibility by adopting a false self image or identity.
In this play "Godot" became a symbol of " Bad Faith" because both characters were blindly waiting for Godot and they thought that Godot would save them, they didn't even think that they could save their own lives and they also could make their own decisions. They have blind hope that Godot will come one day, but that has not really happened.
1.8
Explain-
"One hardly feels the absurdity of some things, on the hand, and the necessity of those other things, on the other, ( for it is rare that feeling of absurdity is not followed by the feeling of necessity of those things of which one hand just felt the necessity ( far it is rare that the feeling of necessity is not followed by the feeling of absurdity)".
The quote suggests that sometimes there is a disconnect between what we perceive as absurd and what we perceive as necessary.
For example one may think or feel that social expectation is an absurd thing but it is necessary to do so. Those expectations are accepted by others to achieve goals. On the other side one may want to follow one particular religion and philosophical belief but they also feel absurdity in that.
To conclude we can say that overall this quest suggests that our perception about what is absurd and what is necessary are complex things.
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