“Waiting for Godot,” a play written by Samuel Beckett, postulates the idea that a human being’s life is wholly dependant on chance, meaningfulness and the futile reliance on ‘Godot.’ The two characters in this story, Estrogon and Vladimir, have evoked pity in me as they wait for hope to arrive. It can be stated that the story primarily focuses on hope, which can be perceived as a form of salvation. Both these characters spend their time grappling with the menace of hopelessness. Besides, they share a mutual desire because of which they stay together and they know they needed each other to pass their time.
In this play, Beckett shows an example of how a person can pass time in situations such as mundane topics, sleeping, chatting with Pozzo and Lucky and contemplating suicide. An interesting reflection I had on this play is that the characters forget everything about their past. I believe that by doing this, the author wants to elicit a dialog and thus make the play to move on at a good pace. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the characters are so described that I felt each day, like a circle, is a return to its beginning. The characters don’t remember anything because if they do, they won’t live their lives as they will come to know it is meaningless.
The play further purports that time, in fact, is immobility except for simpler truths like the tree grows and Pozzo becomes blind. However, for the characters, the act of waiting keeps going on as a ceaseless endeavor. They wait for Godot even though the action is fruitless. Another interesting interpretation I discerned from the story is that Lucky, slave of Pozzo, got that name because of his luck – he doesn’t think of or wait for hope because of the simple fact that Pozzo determines what he should or should not do. It is Pozzo who thinks of and finds the time and place for Lucky. On the other hand, Pozzo has to worry about passing time. In my opinion Beckett is emphasizing on his characters’ hope in “Waiting for Godot.” The wait for hope is further accentuated when the boy says, “Godot will come the next day.” Moreover, both Estregers and Vladimir continue to wait for Godot and they never give up. Events will keep happening in their lives, and lives will not cease because waiting for Godot is the only hope and their reason to live.
“Waiting for Godot,” in my opinion, is a work that attempts to define the weakness of humans. Godot is perceived as God or someone who will provide Vladimir and Estragon, the two main characters in the story, with happiness. But, in fact, Godot never appears for them no matter how earnest their waiting is. I have become interested in analyzing what they have done in order to meet Godot and, ironically, it transpires that they did nothing other than just waiting. On another level, they had the desire to achieve a goal but they were not prepared to put in any efforts to accomplish their objectives. This, as per my interpretation, reflects the immobility of both characters; but on the other hand, it also illustrates the weakness of mankind. This, in today’s world, applies to many people and ‘Waiting for Godot’ boldly underlines this fact.
Another aspect about the weakness of humans that I can infer from this play is the lack of ability to appreciate life. For a person to be able to appreciate the present, the memory about the past becomes a crucial factor. In that context, Vladimir remembers what has happened yesterday to be happy about today, while waiting to meet Godot. On the other hand, Estragon doesn’t remember anything and he just wants to leave. Besides, he always remains pessimistic and never really strives to achieve anything. I believe that had Vladimir been alone in the pursuit for Godot, he would definitely have worked hard for it and achieved his goal as he knows to appreciate what was on the table. However, he had a weakness for Estragon and, ultimately, this companionship precludes him from doing anything to meet Godot.