Hello Friends,
This blog is my response to the task assigned to us by our Prof. Dr. DilipSir in thinking activity of the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. So read, understand and enjoy. Happy Learning!
Below is the movie Waiting for Godot:
🌳Q-1🌳The tree is the only important ‘thing’ in the setting. What is the importance of tree in both acts? Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in Act II on the barren tree - The tree has four or five leaves - ?
Ans. Tree is truly the only thing that is there along with the two characters Estragon and Vladimir. Tree can also be considered a divine symbol. Tree has life, it grows. It is static but still a magic. And here the only one tree so it is only there to provide oxygen which is very essential for living of human beings. Tree is very much a selfless thing. Infact when a tree bears fruits or flowers then they they their branches. This shows that trees are humble and giving. Tree is the most important part of Nature. Tree suffers all storms, heavy rains, floods, cyclones but still protects us. Tree prevents soil erosion. But as we can see here there is only one tree. May be due to World War others trees might be destroyed. Or may be it can be a desert like place. Or it can also be said that humans might be so careless that they might have cut all the trees for their own selfish needs.
May be that Estragon and Vladimir might be told that Godot will come to meet them near a tree. And as there is only one tree so they are waiting near the tree. Here the tree becomes very important because that is the only point of reference that can be seen on the long land that seems visible. So it's like a address.
Here the land seems as if it's the land of Moon or Mars because on Moon and Mars also we find a barren land and big and small rocks scattered here and there, and also these characters also seem to be behaving like the aliens. And maybe some tree might have grown somehow but it's also without any leaves. This place doesn't seem to be Earth at all or a land that is the result of some world war, nuclear explosion or some natural or manmade calamity. But the setting for the play is very much unnatural, unhealthy and this also tells us that the atmosphere in the play and mental condition of the characters is not a healthy one. They are very much pessimistic. They're Godot but we don't know who the Godot is. Is he God or friend or a guest? The characters are behaving in a strange manner, what they talk doesn't make any sense. It seems as if they're just passing the time. But can life be lived in this way practically? Well, it's a very rare case. One has to do so many things in life and how can one stand full day near a tree and pass the time. This tells that they're really characters who don't value time. Because no one should wait for someone in this way the whole day and even the next day too and we don't know for how many days they continue this waiting. Only sick and old people can do this. But even it's very difficult for them too. One would go mad in this way and may be so only these characters are behaving in this way.
In the second act the tree is shown with two to four or five leaves. These tells that the tree is at least a live one and not a dead one. Maybe if next days and in the upcoming months if rainfall occurs then the tree might be full of leaves and may become a beautiful green tree. On the other hand if the conditions are not favorable for the tree they it may die also. So here in the play two days are shown and the communication between two main characters. But upcoming days in the life of these two characters may change as the tree changes in its structure. Nature around us sometimes may reflect our life and our situations and so may be here also nature is reflecting the life of characters.
Q-2 In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when actually they are waiting for Godot?
Ans. This tells us that "Time Flies",
Even if they're waiting for Godot but it doesn't mean that time is also going to wait for them. No, time and time wait for none. Infact we can say that these characters also instead of waiting should be involved in doing some activities in life rather than waiting for Godot. The purpose of life is not to wait but to go on.
Night symbolises death, darkness, sadness, the darkest hour of life, end of the day, etc. But in these darkness moon rises, it means there is something that is giving some light even in the dark night. Moon is the symbol of hope in the dark night. Moon is the symbol of love also. People celebrate full moon nights as on Sharad Poonam, people play garba on full moon night. So full moon night is the symbol of love, happiness and celebration although here in the play we see that after a day's long wait when Godot doesn't come they get disappointed and go home. But at least they move to their homes is also something that connects them to some responsibility. So here Moon can be seen as the symbol of hope. This gives a very deep philosophy of life that when sunsets then moonrises it means when one door closes then another opens, sun goes but moon comes. Moon is the symbol of beauty and coolness. After the long day under the warm sun, moon gives as coolness and calmness that we may sleep well. If moon is symbol of hope then we can also say that where there is life, there is hope. We cannot live without hope.
Moon is a natural object and is there in the sky for many many years. It has been there since many years and is going to last many years. It may symbolise eternity. Humans come and go, born and die in few years but Moon is eternal. So it is Godlike and precious. Light of the Moon cheers our mood and gives us peace and calmness. Moon tells us to go on, moon also has phases, from no moon to full moon and again from full moon to no moon. A cycle of fifteen days. So it teaches us that success and failures are part of life but what important is to keep going. From Nature we learn to keep going. Day turns to night, sunsets and moonrises, so everything in nature is moving, so this changes like the end of the day, moon rises tells us to keep on moving, to keep going in life regardless of situations. It's no use to wait for anything whatsoever, what's meant to be will find its way to us, and what's not meant to be, nothing, no amount of waiting or efforts can bring it to us. So nature tells us to move on in life.
Q-3 The director feels the setting with some debris. Can you read any meaning in the contours of debris in the setting of the play?
Ans. The debris can be remains of broken buildings or homes or of something that existed there before but due to world war or some calamity it might be destroyed and now that broken rocks and stones and debris remains. It refers to something that happened in the past. But these debris may also symbolise sadness, negativity, lacking beauty, brokenness, in the life of characters also. This can be taken as one archetype. But if characters don't like this debris then with some efforts if the debris is replaced with something beautiful like greenary and beautiful buildings or structure of art then it may also change the life of these characters too. But changes are messy and troublesome and taking lots of efforts and if one is successfully able to bring these changes then the life may also change into something beautiful, one may find some meaning in this absurd world in the life of characters. The purpose of such play is to recognize the absurdity that is in everyone's life and try to make our life more meaningful, purposeful and fruitful.
Here the debris is present in in the physical world also and also in the minds and thoughts of characters. They are talking useless, doing nothing but just killing the time. They are waiting for somebody to whom they don't know, to whom they've never seen, they never know whether he or she is ever going to come or not, but still they're waiting. Infact adding more frustration to their life, that wait never ends unless and until the characters change their thoughts and try to do something else and in a way try to remove this debris of useless wait from their minds.
Q-4 The play begins with the dialogue “Nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in the play?
Ans. The central theme of the is nothingness, the characters Estragon and Vladimir are doing nothing, they talk of moving but they never move, they are just killing time, waiting for somebody but that somebody, Godot may never come.
The line "Nothing to be done" tells that as if the characters have tried everything and are now at such a point that they can't do anything. As if doing something they've put all of their efforts and are now waiting for something to happen because they themselves aren't able to do anything.
It also sometimes describes every human's life. Like sometimes some are waiting for toys, some for marriage, some for wealth, some for good health, some for children, some for job, some for promotion, and finally after getting or not getting all that we desire in the end we all are waiting for death because after getting all that we want sometimes what we need is a grateful heart, a satisfied mind and peace in thoughts and soul. If we don't have peace then nothing can satisfy us. The real happiness and peace is in our present time and situation, if we aren't at peace with our present that nothing can help us. Because everything we wait for has its own limitations and challenges then it leads us to the conclusion that the price is too heavy and this leads to nothingness that inspite of getting everything we have to lose something and this leads to nothingness.
In this play the characters Estragon and Vladimir are just talking and that talk is of no sense. The little boy comes to tell that Godot will come tomorrow, but how he comes to know that they're waiting for Godot, there's no background of the play given. It seems as if Godot is some human or divine being whom they've met earlier and fixed an appointment to meet at a particular place, at a particular time but without proper background given of the play, this play seems to be more like nothing. When Lucky and Pozzo comes then Pozzo treats Lucky like a slave so we see how the humans are treated like animals. It tells that Pozzo has no care no emotions for other human beings, he's is very much self centered, behaves in very arrogant manner. These type of behavior also ruins the life of other common and innocent people who are helpless in front of such people misusing their power and treating others badly. They create nothingness in life of other people and this chain spreads among person to person.
Q-5 Do you agree: “The play (Waiting for Godot), we agreed, was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. As I saw it, with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is: 'No matter what— atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, anything—life goes on. You can kill yourself, but you can't kill life." (E.G. Marshal who played Vladimir in original Broadway production 1950s)?
Ans. Yes, this play can also be seen as a positive play, an optimistic play. In this play the characters are patiently waiting for Godot without any complain. They have hope that someday Godot will come. So this play stresses on HOPE no matter how difficult the wait may seem but still the characters are full of hope. Sometimes as humans it's very easy to give up or even to think positive, sometimes even little disturbances or challenges divert our energy and thoughts from pursuing the path which have chosen to walk upon. Sometimes even the simplest of things becomes a challenge for us. So in this way this play tells us to be more optimistic like the characters are also having hope and they are patiently waiting for somebody which is also a challenge. So this play teaches us to go on even when there are no signs or no hopes because someday our sun will shine, and stars will twinkle in our life too, that some day all the darkness of challenges, wait, disturbances will end and a new sunrise will come, a new day full of bright sunshine and light will come but the most important is to wait and never to give up.
The hydrogen bomb and an atom bomb are like challenges that had killed lots of people in world war and the land was also very badly destroyed that nothing can grow there, as if it was an end of life on Earth, but still time passes, wounds may heal after many many years, but humans on other part of earth are still working and these is hope that life moves, although some died, some were injured, some lost everything including health, family, home, property, everything still if they're in poor health and breathing inspite of all pains, then it's something and that something is a ray of hope, a positive energy, that tells us to survive, to struggle and to move towards life. So life goes on and with it lies a message for us to go on come what may. Failures, Difficulties, Challenges may either perish us or make us better and strong. So this play is a positive and tells us to wait with hope in our hearts and to never to give up. Wait will end and some day our stars will shine. For that we need to have a vision to recognize that what is for us and that we have to receive it with a grateful heart.
Q-6 How are the props like hat and boots used in the play? What is the symbolical significance of these props?
Ans. Hat is used for memory, mind and thinking. Vladimir is wearing a hat and can be seen as a thinking person who is also practical.
Boots symbolise body, physical life and is worn by Estragon in the play. Estragon doesn't thinks much but claims that he's a poet.
The beauty, the essence of life is the ability to think and only human are the living creatures on the Earth that have the ability to think. In this way humans are different, superior, guardians on earth. Humans can think and so can they reason out the things, they can find solutions, they can invent.
The ones who are only physical, related to eat and go life are like animals. For them only basic needs, food and shelter is only enough. These type of people don't think a lot, so they can't do much progress, they can find solutions even to the simplest of problems just because they do think, they don't imagine.
As a human beings it's very important to think, to be able to think very deeply, to channelize our thoughts, to control our mind and thoughts and actions because animals can't control themselves and only humans can do with discipline in life. To expess ourselves in a right way with right words is also a practice which can be developed by practice. Education can help us and train our minds in proper way to become better human beings.
Q-7 Do you think that the obedience of Lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic? Even when the master Pozzo is blind, he obediently hands the whip in his hand. Do you think that such a capacity of slavishness is unbelievable?
Ans. 
This type of relationship is similar to master slave and also like Guru and discipline, but these is very rare. But once it becomes a habit, it's very much difficult to remove. Just a bird is kept in a cage for a long time and if we remove it from cage still it won't go away because now it's used to live in a cage and now infact the bird will be afraid of freedom and to fly alone away. Then slavery and prison becomes an inevitable part of life which after long time becomes difficult to remove it from a lifestyle and habit.
Yes, we do find the obedience of Lucky a bit irritating. But in some relationships obedience is also very much necessary. For example, children are suppose to obey their parents and then their teachers too. But the condition is that parents and teachers should show the right and accurate path to their children. Here the responsiblity of parents and teacher increases a lot. In this case, Lucky is habitualised to be a slave of Pozzo so much that now it's impossible for him to change his habits. He is chained so much to Pozzo that even if the chains are broken then also it becomes difficult for him to get separated. Slavishness has become the part of the life of Lucky and now he is not able to separate himself from it.
It's natural of human being and of other living beings too that once they are used to do something or to behave in a certain way, once they are forced to be the slaves and if it is continued for a long time then it's difficult to change those habits and lifestyle. So it may be shocking the way Lucky behaves but it's the circumstances and situations that might have forced him to behave in some way which is not advisable for normal human beings.
Q-8 Who according to you is Godot? God? An object of desire? Death? Goal? Success? Or . . .
Ans. Godot may be God. But God never tells that he will come at a place at some time. In general particular with reference to human life, Godot could be the desires of human heart from childhood till the end of life. We all wait for one or another thing but when we get that then instead of appreciating that we long for something else. That's human nature and we need to change it. In life after getting everything we want still something disturbs us and this disturbance tells us in end to wait for death which becomes our ultimate Godot. We long for salvation and our union with the supreme power the Almighty God.
Q-9 “The subject of the play is not Godot but ‘Waiting’” (Esslin, A Search for the Self) . Do you agree? How can you justify your answer?
Ans. Yes, we can agree with this because through the play characters are waiting but Godot never comes. The story of the play revolves around the waiting and how the characters do some foolish talks to pass their time. From morning till night they do nothing else but just keep waiting in both the acts. The day ends but their waiting still continues the next day. So the thrill lies in the journey, the path rather than the destination. We never know how our destination could be until and unless we reach there. So better said enjoy while where we are rather than dreaming of being where we want to be. We never know how the destination will be. So in this play Godot never comes and so he can't be subject of the play. What we see in the play throughout is just waiting so the subject of the play Waiting is more appropriate rather than Godot.
Q-10 Do you think that plays like this can better be ‘read’ than ‘viewed’ as it requires a lot of thinking on the part of readers, while viewing, the torrent of dialogues does not give ample time and space to ‘think’? Or is it that the audio-visuals help in better understanding of the play?
Ans. Yes, it's better to read and than view the play because reading helps us in understanding the dialogues and then when we view the film then it makes some points more clear which otherwise by normal reading we may not be able to get them clearly.
Q-11 The more the things change, the more it remains similar. There seems to have no change in Act I and Act II of the play. Even the conversation between Vladimir and the Boy sounds almost similar. But there is one major change. In Act I, in reply to Boy;s question, Vladimir says:
"BOY: What am I to tell Mr. Godot, Sir?
VLADIMIR:
Tell him . . . (he hesitates) . . . tell him you saw us. (Pause.) You did see us,didn't you?How does this conversation go in Act II? Is there any change in seeming similar situation and conversation? If so, what is it? What does it signify?
Ans. In second act, Vladimir tells the boy that he saw him, Here US changes to ME. Here we see the selfishness of Vladimir, as if he is only waiting for Godot and that as if he only wants to go to heavens and wants salvation. Vladimir by saying ME removes Estragon from the frame.
BOY: What am I to tell Mr. Godot, Sir?
VLADIMIR: Tell him . . . (he hesitates) . . . tell him you saw me and that . . . (he hesitates) . . . that you saw me. (Pause. Vladimir advances, the Boy recoils. Vladimir halts, the Boy halts. With sudden violence.) You're sure you saw me, you won't come and tell me tomorrow that you never saw me!
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