Here’s a list of book reviews of the books I loved and enjoyed reading. When we list our favorite books and recommend it to others, one of the most important questions that surface is: what makes the book so special? Since choices are subjective and every book has its moments of boredom, thrill and, epiphany; writing a book review becomes one of the best ways to communicate and share one’s reading experience. Most of the reviews here are evaluative and analytical and brings to light the selective aspects of the books that moved me and changed my vision. Hope you enjoy reading them. Your feedback is valuable.
Calling Sehmat By Harrinder. S. Sikka
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
A Matter of Time by Shashi Deshpande
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Veronica Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan kundera
The Wasteland by Thomas. Stearns. Eliot
The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter
Check out Cym Lowell’s The Book Review Blog Party
Hello,
Where are you from? Is it a secret?
In the play, Waiting for Godot, Estragon and Vladimir are left in a vicious cycle that is not willing to spit them out. Vladimir and Estragon are kept waiting for a man that will never come but that somehow everyday that passes by that Godot does not appear, makes their hopes that he will come grow. This in itself is part of the human condition that the characters find themselves in. These men in Waiting for Godot are not struggling to live life to its fullest, they are struggling to survive or better yet they are struggling to exist. This is because instead of leaving the area where supposedly Godot would encounter them and make something of their time, Vladimir and Estragon keep faith that Godot will come (even if he never does). This in particular is what makes the human condition so absurd.
The play “Waiting for Godot” explores with the themes and complexities of existentialism. What I like about the play is that it is left open for interpretation to the audience. The characters of Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for something that Godot has and this will bring change to their lives. This is the idea that existentialism presents. These two characters are waiting for a difference in their lives and they realize life’s purpose. They will keep to their decision of waiting for Godot because they see it as their purpose.
In Waiting for Godot we see the absurdity of the two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who are constantly waiting for a man who they have never met who will “solve” their problems but in reality this person might never come, they might be waiting forever. What’s the purpose? Why do they wait? In life people are constantly waiting for something, anything, even though it might never come and possible might not even exist. We wait because we need something to believe in, something to look forward to, we all need hope. All of us are constantly waiting for answers, answers to anything, to everything even though we might never know them. This is part of the absurdity of life; many people expect something, they wait for something or someone to appear and solve all of their problems and make their lives perfect. Just like in religion, they trust blindly, they have faith that a higher being cares for them and will inevitably help them in their lives. This blind faith is kind of absurd; how do we know god exists? Why should he help us? When, if ever, will he appear? But just like Vladimir and Estragon we wait, we need this faith; we need this glimmer of hope that gives us a purpose and something to look forward to. Even though we live with this doubt and uncertainty we wait for at least a sign to give us a purpose for this same wait, to give us a purpose in our lives. Vladimir and Estragon can very well represent all of us, the humanity that struggles to find a purpose in life no matter how absurd it may seem. This waiting, this searching for answers that we may never receive, this faith that gives us hope and that gives us a purpose in life is beautifully absurd.
Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the
universe ultimately fail (and hence are absurd), because no such meaning exists, at
least in relation to humanity. The word “absurd” in this context does not mean
“logically impossible”, but rather “humanly impossible”. I is important for us to
understand this so that we as humans do not comsume ourselves and just simply enjoy life.
In the play Waiting For Godot we can see the absurdity in some of life aspects through the two main characters Didi and Gogo. The two characters are, like the title of the book implies, waiting for Godot, a man they don’t even know that they think will come and solve their problems. But, How do you wait for someone you don’t know? How do you expect a someone that you dont even know to help you in hard post-war times?
This is part of the absurdity of life. Many people expect something, they wait for something or someone in their live to come out of the blue and change their lives. This blind faith is kind of abusurd, but it give many people a purpose, hope, and something to look forward to, which changes a person’s emotional state. This hope can be religion, or in someone, or even just a kind gesture in their live. Yet without this absurdity in life, life would not be wat it is today.
In Waiting for Godot we see the importance of the term existentialism. We see that the play’s action is based on the waiting of this unknown character Godot. This character is not described and no explanation what so ever for why is it so important for Vladimir and Estragon meet with this anonymous man. Both characters Vladimir and Estragon play this role of pass time or waiting even though it is presented as something absurd; it is this absurdity that makes the character reconcile for what is important and that is to live. For this reason they don’t commit suicide because both of them have found a reason to live and making that accomplishment leads them to their patience for waiting for Godot. This play portrays to the reader the importance of ones role in life and that we are in this world for some kind of reason and we must accomplish it even by the most absurd things.
In Waiting for Godot Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for something or someone known as Godot. To this day, the reader does not know who Godot really is and if it/he exists. But this does not deprive the main characters from the waiting everyday just to see and talk to him/it. The fact that they’re waiting for something that never comes can be related to the fact that we as human beings are always in a personal search, trying to find out who we really are, and most importantly, why are we here? This brings us to the theme of existentialism where we always ask the same questions: Why are we here? Is there something greater for me? Do we have a purpose in life? Are we waiting for something/someone? If we are, what is it and why? It is these questions that take us to the end. We may see the last of our days and never find out the answer to all these questions, just like Estragon and Vladimir would never have the opportunity to know who truly is Godot, but with all these questions and all these obstacles we face in our everyday life, we have to learn something, and that is to live day by day. We may face many difficulties in our lives but those are the hard moments, as well as the happy ones, that make us who we truly are and teach us that we can not stop our lives waiting for something; we have to go on, and if it means waiting, we will wait but with our head high and proud
Waiting for Godot is certainly an existentialist play. Throughout the play, the characters ask questions such as “Why are we here?” and what is our purpose. Are we just stuck here waiting for something (Godot) that will never come? Or will he come?
I think that neither Vladimir nor Estragon decided to hand themselves because they had found the purpose in their life: to wait for GOdot. Even if it an absurd thing to wait for it is what kept them there and what motivates them to keep on living and not commit suicide. Once you find a reason to live and a purpose in your life it doesn’t matter how dumb people think that purpose is, you will pursue it blidindly. That is exactly what Vladimir and Estragon are doing.
Waiting For Godot: The essence of the play is all of the absurd behavior Estragon and Vladimir undergo while waiting for this enigmatic character called Godot. They do not know much about this character, what they do know is that they must wait for him. This is similiar to what humans do in life. Most humans, believe in Holy Entity and waiting all their lives for them. This is the most important aspect of their lives and if not their lives will be totally pointless. Furthermore, sometimes this waiting becomes so long that they begin loosing hope. Now the aspect of distraction comes to mind. The distractions, such as fighting and thinking about hanging themselves, is what keeps the main characters oriented and goal-focused. For this reason, all of the absurdities they did, did not seem so absurd because they had a purpose.
In the play “Waiting for Godot” we see two characters whose life revolves around uncertainty. Both Vladimir and Estragon live in perpetual wait for this figure that is represented by Godot. They spend their lives in the hopes that this individual will arrive, because of this they have put their lives on hold and their existence is therefore useless. Instead of looking for meaning in their life, they chose to lay back and allow life to pass them by. They assume a very passive role and hence, they fall into a vicious circle where they separate themselves from the real world and miss out on the great things life has to offer.
Reply: Vladmir and Estrogen have certainly taken a passive role..they are constantly in wait for something to happen to them…they will not make it happen to themselves. but this life of passivity itself has a meaning…as t.S.Eliot remarked in one of his plays/poems ” to do nothing is not a passive state. it is the highest activity the soul is capable of, the deliberate and sustained effort of the soul to suffer, in the sense of allow, all that God may will to effect on it”.
In the play Waiting For Godot, much like in life, people are waiting for something that might never come and possible might not even exist. We spend our whole lives waiting and anticipating and sometimes we are not even aware of it. The absurdity of it all is that even if it is absolutely pointless to wait for something that may or may not come, waiting gives us something to look forward to. That ’something’ that everyone waits for gets us through life. If one has nothing to look forward to, then what’s the point in living? Nobody’s to judge what that something is to each individual. For example, one might wake up in the morning and think “I want to go to bed.” That desire to sleep will get you through the day. One must embrace that life might not have a point, that we might not have a purpose, but we ARE living and there is no other choice but to accept and embrace that fact. We are all waiting for Godot and we can only hope he’ll show up.
Reply: thanks for your insightful remarks. i liked your ‘desire for sleep that gets one through a day’ bit…this example very aptly shows meaninglessness of life. we all sure are waiting for our own Godots…
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language.
Are Vladimir and Estragon like Sisyphus? Is embracing this absurdity what gives life its purpose? Although Sisyphus doesn’t choose his fate, his decision to endure the struggle gives him a purpose.
Reply: ya! i think they are a lot like sisyphus…it’s all about finding purpose, essence even if one gets it from embracing absurdity. this is the aspect that most intrigued me about existentialism. the discovery that life is ultimately meaningless leads to two conclusions- that life is not worth living( we should then commit suicide…..camus talks of suicide as a philosophical problem) or we continue living with its absurdity.
Existentialists ask is there a third way? there is a schism in their ways of approaching this question. some thinkers like Soren Kierkegaard believe that ‘hope’ can rescue one from absurdity. hope denies that life is meaningless by means of ‘blind faith’. wheras thinkers like Camus believe there is no way out but experience and acceptance.Rather than run away from the feeling of absurdity, either through suicide or hope, he wants to dwell with it and see if one can live with this feeling.
Waiting for Godot: Hmm, very cognitive post.
Is this theme good unough for the Digg?
How is the idea of “Nothing to be done” part of the human condition? It is absurd to wait for a response to the question of why we exist. However, we continue to wait.
Why don’t Estragon and Vladimir hang themselves from the tree? Although Beckett portrays life without meaning life as an experience with its “waiting” and “passing of time” is worth it. Thus, one must embrace this absurdity.
Reply: hello maria.
i think this is exactly how and why Existentialism attacks Descarte’s rationalism. if ‘essence’ preceeds ‘existence’ then why does life lead to absurdity. Vladmir and Estrgon ‘know too much’ …and they conclude that life is not worth living yet they go on living….it is this absurdity that is portrayed by Beckett.
Existentialism might seem, at first sight, a nihilistic approach but it frees us from the cloistered rationalistic view. it frees us from our essence and gives liberty to choose our own essence…we are not Paulo Coelho’s Santiago who is on a journey to find the hidden treasure, we are Veronica who has to free herself from the clutches of ‘angst’, ‘ennui’ and take the burden of choosing her own destiny, her own essence, and to make it to make life worth meaning….
Estragon and Vladmir will not hang themselves…because life is not a waiting room where some godot (essence) will free them from its absurdity. it is a destination where they must learn how to live it bearing the burden of choice. they fail to choose whether to go away, to wait, or to die…but they must choose.
With the play ‘Waiting for Godot’ we learn the true meaning within the concept of existentialism and how important is to discover our own identity and purpose in life. Many may question themselves: What is our place in life? Why we are here, and for what are we here? Is it for a second chance? Or is it for an opportunity to better ourselves? The truth is that, although it may seem senseless, by embracing the absurd, in other words by appreciating and valuing every aspect in life, for simple it may seem; we are learning and discovering the answer to this questions. For me, by embracing the absurdity, we are accepting our human condition, our flaws, our meaning. Life’s meaning falls on the concept of bettering ourselves everyday of our lives. Moreover, the concept of the absurd help us discover that life is an everyday opportunity; is a way of learning that by the concept of waiting we are learning how life is giving a chance to emend our errors. Furthermore, even though it may seem senseless to wait for “nothing”, this play makes us comprehend how that “nothingness” is nothing else than the struggle that is “life” and that the only way to go on triumphantly, is by overcoming those struggles in our own way. We are the owner of our decisions, and the drivers of our own destiny; we are the only ones capable to endure and overcome our problems. Humanity’s constant battle against ones struggle and the waiting for a better tomorrow, is how we can understand and learn our purpose in life. I encourage the readers to take advantage of this play, and take out the best from it, and the most of all, to take from it the way of accepting and embracing their true purpose in life.
Reply: Thanks for your remarks. the play certainly has layered meanings emerging from it….it is a reader’s play.
In the play, Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon have nothing else to do, but wait for Godot. And that waiting for him is what makes them live, they need to wait. After the boy comes for the second time they could figure he is never coming, yet they continue to wait. It is absurd how the two can’t hang themselves because they need to wait, yet they want to suicide themselves because they cant keep waiting, they don’t want to live in that absurdity forever. By not knowing what will happen, they are trapped in the sense that they can’t go on because they need to wait. Their purpose is to wait, and they accept it, therefore they know their place in life, each day they will wait for Godot even if he never comes. They embrace the absurdity of waiting because they have nothing else going for them, their only choice is to wait for that something, someone which may never come…
Just like Vladimir and Estragon,in Waiitng for Godot we too are in a constant wait for answers, even though we know that we may not know the answers ever. Even though we live in this uncertainty, we prefer, as Estragon and Vladimir, to wait for at least a sign to give us a purpose for this same wait,to give us a purpose in our lives. The absurdity is that the “wait” becomes the purpose of Estragon and Vladimir lives. How waiting for someone that they do not even know in the hope of changing their fate becomes the center of their world,in which they have nothing left. I see Vladimir and Estragon as the humanity that struggles to find a purpose in life, whatever it may be. In their case, they have nothing left to live for, so they search for at least one “excuse”, one purpose,to live day by day, just as humanity clings on to different aspects of their own lives to find purpose in them. I believe that Estragon and Vladimir due to the consequences of the war are brought to question their own existence. Now a days we really don’t question until we have nothing else to think of, or nothing else to hold on to to serve as a “distraction”. I understand their situation, and frankly, if I was surrounded and traumatized by a world in which their is no hope and nothing to cling on to, I would also find hope in the most absurd, even though it was a man I didn’t even know.
The belief of nothing to be done contributes to the human condition because it proves Camus’s theory of life being pointless. Eventhough life is without a fixed purpose, each individual has a choice of making their own purpose be known to others; thus, making it clear that our purpose is to defeat nothingness and become noticed. Moreover, Estragon and Vladimir’s plight to be recognized by Godot and wait for his ever so important presence symbolizes how humanity lets life pass us by and lose it to nothingness. Furthermore, we are the ones with the choice to define our lives and not let the absurdity of nothing put our lives on hold. Finally, by letting Estragon and Vladimir resign to their absurd reality, Beckett provides the reader with a choice of reformation or deception of life itself.
Like many exsistential authors of his generation, including Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett presents to us a peculiar and original scenario between Estragon and Vladimir who wait helplessly for Godot. What drives them? That is uncertain, making the whole plot of the play absurd. Beckett criticizes humanity’s futile quest to search for rationality and meaning in an irrational and hopeless world; thus sustaining his philosophical view that all people are “equally absurd”.
“Waiting for Godot” is a clear example of the influence of Existentialism in relatively recent or contemporary pieces of literature. In “Waiting for Godot” there is an easily discernable strain of influence that can be traced to Soren Kierkegaard’s ideas of Existentialism. Morality that exists within a plane where there is a superior entity or being. Estragon and Vladimir’s actions are subjected to the presence, or rather the absence, of Godot. The figure of Godot is also a figure that can represent hopelessness. He/She/It represents the loss of hope that is inherent in all thwarted human activities. Loss of hope is only natural in Vladimir and Estragon’s activities. Howvever, even if they had lost all hope of meeting Godot, there would always be the certainty of death.
Waiitng For Godot: Life in the universe can be perceived or viewed as a never ending cycle in which we are born and then we die. When we put life on this plane we can appreciate the absurdity that Samuel Beckett is trying to portray in his play. The absurdity of waiting for life to be something more than what it is. This meaning that we try to give to life is useless because your life is nothing, and will never be nothing more than the same life of the person beside you. Life, just like time and space, can not be altered by us consciously, only the external forces of the universe which we will never get to see (Godot) can do that.
I think the best part of the play is that Godot never arrives. It gives it an essence of what life is really like, finding something to do before that thing or person we are waiting for arrives. Most people wait for death; we all know we are going to die, yet some people focus their lives on how to prevent it, which is impossible, as others focus their lives on living their lives to the fullest, not worrying about how long they have to live. In “Waiting for Godot” we see how Vladimir and Estragon are simply waiting for something that never arrives, and in doing so, find other ways to entertain themselves. I think it’s important that Godot never arrives, even the author says he didn’t mean for him to arrive; this is because in that eternal wait for Godot, the two characters discover different elements of life, they endure their friendship, and they continue living in that wait. What would happen if Godot did arrive? Then what would they have? That hope for Godot is the only thing that keeps them going on with their lives, if not they would’ve probly gone on with commiting suicide, or maybe not. The play truly portrays the absurdness of the everyday life. I like how the author of the blog says that Vladimir and Estragon are faced with different choices. It is exactly what life is all about, choices. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, it’s up to us to decide what we are going to do with them. That hope in Vladimir and Estragon that Godot will arrive is what makes them choose to live and go on looking for something to do. It’s like Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “It’s faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living.” Without something to live for, there is no life. I’m not saying that you have to take part in religion, I’m saying that everyone will always have some goal and purpose in life, and reaching that or those goals is what keeps us going on from day-to day.
Life of Pi sounds like an interesting book! When I read Lord of the Rings I found the first 200 pages boring, so like you I had to really try hard to finish – I’m glad I did! Like you I found a classic book.
I really like books that explore the human mind and this one looks like a great book!
Reply: hello Simey…you are right. the same thing happened with me when i sat with Lord of the Rings…in fact, there are books i deliberately sit through only to realize later that i loved them…for something or the other.
thanks for the comment.
In human’s quest for the purpose of life and the meaning of our existence, there are moments which will be filled with “nothingness”. The idea that there is nothing to be done is part of the human condition because of the fact that humanity must face its limitations and the truth is, finding the purpose of our existence is out of our reach. However, we continue to wait because there is no other alternative. Either we wait, or we do nothing. By waiting, there still remains a speck of hope.
Vladimir and Estragon don’t hang themselves from the tree because internally they are still waiting for hope, still waiting for Godot.
The lack of purpose is one of the most crucial themes in Waiting For Godot and seeing the characters wait for answers that will never arrive may cause the reader desperation and anxiety. We may ask ourselves, “why do they simply wait?” “Why do they not take control of their lives and their destinies?” We will convince ourselves that the characters are therefore useless. But that is exactly what Beckett was trying to portray in his play.
Estragon and Vladimir are simply put, models of real life people, people whom we may see all around us in our every day life. These are the people who walk, talk, eat, breathe etc. but seem to do so aimlessly, without any real purpose or intention of giving some meaning to their lives.
Could this be a message that Beckett tries to display in his work? He may be warning us of the dangers of living without direction, organization, or goals. After all, these are some of the most important things that make us all successful and happy in life.
There is no use in conforming to just existing when there is so much more to experience than what is put before us. We must explore, we must go beyond our expectations and search for the answers to the essential questions that we ask ourselves, for even if we don’t actually succeed in finding exactly what we desire, we will be satisfied with knowing that we strived to give it our all.
In Waiting for Godot, the theme of time is very important because it presents a mix of problems. Estragon and Vladimir, the two main characters, are seen waiting day after day for a man called Godot, who never appears. The title of the play exposes the main action: waiting. This waiting ends up turning into something cyclical because they are stuck in a pattern of doing nothing all day, every day, even though it’s purposeless. They don’t even remember why they are waiting for the man. But their hope in finally meeting Godot keeps them from leaving. Furthermore, the characters have no sense of time or relevance, which further confuses them; it’s as if time loss takes.
Samuel Beckett’s En attendant Godot, translated into English as Waiting for Godot is considered “the most significant English language play of the 20th century.”
In this tragicomedy of two acts, Beckett presents many crucial themes related to life and existence, choices in life, truth, consciousness, mortality, the human struggle to conduct meaning in a meaningless life, lack of purpose, friendship, freedom and confinement, suffering, time, religion, and absurdity; all part of the human condition that concerns our daily life.
Among all of these themes, one of the underlying ones in this play is the theme of choices. As the title of this play suggests, the two main characters, Estragon and Vladimir, decide to wait endlessly for someone named Godot, although they see it more as part of their daily routine and fail to realize that this is, in fact, a choice they make. Despite of the fact that they stick to their main choice, there are some other decisions that they make throughout the course of the play, but do not accomplish. In many occasions, these two men are unable to act, move, or think in any significant way while they pass their time. Even when they make a conscious decision, they fail to transform that mental choice into a real, physical act. This means that the choices they make in their minds such as “deciding” to leave the stage, eventually become useless when their decision cannot be joined by an action as presented in the following two lines:
ESTRAGON
I’m going.
He does not move. [Act 1 page 67]
This actually happens constantly throughout the play, leading to repetition in the seemingly endless and vicious cycle of their lives.
Finally, the importance of making choices in a mysterious and unknown world like the one presented in Waiting for Godot can be best translated into one of Samuel Beckett’s greatest quotes: “Where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.”
In the play “Waiting for Godot” we see how the two main characters: Vladimir and Estragon do nothing, literally, besides taking their boots on and off and talking to Lucky and Pozzo, while they wait for a thing or person named Godot. I did not find it amusing at all, it was a waste of my time.
Time is a very important aspect in the play that Beckett wanted to show, but ironically he made me waste my time, I don’t know if anyone else would agree with me; although the constant allusions to biblical characters made it not completely boring.
I cannot say that I wish that Godot would have arrived because that would defeat the purpose of Beckett, I actually think it was smart and left the end open to interpretation but the ride to the end was agonizing. With all due respect I could not take one more of Vladimir’s and Estragon’s pointless conversations; but all in all I think Beckett is a genious and I loved his message, just not the way he chose to express it.
Our unwillingness to live without a purpose is put on display in Waiting for Godot. Vladimir and Estragon show how the human consciousness cannot register the notion of being worthless. Keeping in mind the absurd overtones that are prevalent during the entire play, it is quite easy to fabricate a case for these two being the focal points in what is, in essence, one big metaphor for life. The play is a surreal leitmotif detailing the incoherency in “waiting” for society to give you purpose. You only make as much sense as the context you are put in.
Didi and Gogo’s seemingly insouciant attitude is strongly juxtaposed with the poignant things that they say. Tiny bits of painful insight slipping through the cracks that have been hastily paved over by society. The most terrifyingly real thing in the play: their inability to piece together these shards of poignancy and realize that their efforts of validation are all in vain.
One of the main themes in “Waiting for Godot” was time. Vladimir and Estragon were wasting their time waiting for someone named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon were restless since time did not go so fast. In order to make time go faster, they decided to talk to each other. At one point, they were about to hang themselves in order to waste time faster. They were happy that Pozzo and Lucky appeared since they were entertained and not thinking about time.
Vladimir and Estragon’s condition is faced by humanity every single day. The fact that people wait for things to happen is constantly recognized as absurd, however we continue to sponsor this practice even when we are concient of its non-productive outcomes. Maybe the reason why people wait and don’t act is simply because of fear of change, and one can not be afraid of changes. It may be the security there is in waiting that keeps these characters playing in their nothingness, in their vagueness. This waiting is nothing, but at the same time everything they have. This practice can liberate them from responsibilities,faults, and can be constantly used as an excuse. Don’t we, humanity, use excuses in our everyday life to get away with little aspects of life? Can these excuses grow into a snowball effect that will only lead us into “nothing”?
The theme of religion is presented in “Waiting for Godot” in many ways, all expressing the same idea. Religion is seen as nonsense, something that is full of illogical arguments, a big mystery that adds to their uncertainty. They discuss the inconsistencies of relgion and they even state that people that belong in the same religion never meet eye to eye. This adds to their the uncertainty. If everybody in the same relgion has a different point of view. Where does that leave others, who have different ideals?
This catalogs religion, as another pointless activity they talk about in order to pass time. In other words saying it is a waste of time such as all the other things they do. This is critizes religion in real life. It says that religion is not consistent, not real, and a pointelss activity in order pass the time in our boring lives. A life which is spent, looking for a purpose.
In the play “Waiting for Godot” we are presented with the idea of “Nothing to be done” through the two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon. This idea is part of the human condition because humans can’t answer many of the major questions in life, for example, why we exist. Humans are simply existing without knowing why. It is absurd to wait for a response to the question of why we exist because it will not be answered. That question is the biggest mistery of life and humans have to accept that something can’t be answered with simple math or science. In one point of the play, Vladimir and Estragon want to hang themselves from a tree because the don’t have nothing else to do. They want to pass their time “waiting” for Godot as fast as they can and they do it by talking superficially about things that are not important. They find themselves not going through with the act because in the bottom of their hearts they will wait for Godot endlessly, since that is their life. Life, although it has no meaning, is worth all of the waiting and passing of time because there are things in life that make you happy and you enjoy every minute that you exist, even though the life you are living is absurd.
*CORRECTION ERROR**
In one point of the play, Vladimir and Estragon want to hang themselves from a tree because the have nothing else to do.
Humanity’s struggle to find meaning in meaningless life is one of the main themes seen in Becket’s Waiting for Godot. Vladimir and Estragon in a way represent humanity and show how we can’t cope with the fact that maybe there is no meaning to our existence. Throughout the play these two characters are constantly trying to figure out who they are and what purpose do they serve on Earth. But they are unable to find any meaning to their life other than waiting for this mysterious man named Godot. They believe that Godot will be able to magically give them meaning and that he will be their savior.
Humanity tries to find meaning to this absurd thing we call life and just like Didi and Gogo we rely on an external force to give us meaning. Instead of just accepting that life is worth living even if there is no purpose, humanity believes that without a meaning, life isn’t worth living.
The theme of “waiting” is possibly the most prevalent in the novel:
ESTRAGON: Let’s go.
VLADIMIR: We can’t.
ESTRAGON: Why not?
VLADIMIR: We’re waiting for Godot.
ESTRAGON: Still?
This exchange is repeated numerous times throughout the play. Its emphasis on their inability to change the fact that they are waiting despite their efforts to entertain themselves links the theme of waiting directly to that of existentialism and the pointlessness of life.
Vladimir: Say, I am happy.
Estragon: I am happy.
Vladimir: So am I.
Estragon: So am I.
Vladimir: We are happy.
Estragon: We are happy. (silence) What do we do now, now that we’re happy?
Vladimir: Wait for Godot.
Even after Estragon and Vladimir have “achieved happiness”, they must still wait, rendering the cycle of waiting unbreakable and all their efforts to do anything else with their lives futile.
If we consider that Estragon and Vladimir is representative of society, it is easy to see how “waiting” leads to the theme of existentialism.
Through the theme of waiting, “Waiting for Godot” presents a depressing existentialist declaration: Life is pointless, there is nothing society can do to change the tragic, inevitable fact that society shall forever wait. It shall wait and wait as its members die one by one and are replaced by others just as fair. It shall wait for world hunger to end. It shall wait for the majority to care. It shall wait for change. But the efforts of one or two will never suffice, just as the efforts of Estragon and Vladimir are in vain. Thus, just as Vladimir and Estragon, society shall eternally “wait for Godot”.
I personally enjoyed how the theme of existentialism is shown. Although I know that the fact that nothing of consequence (or at least, dramatic consequence) ever happens, that for me is a part of existentialism. When all a person does is exist, there is no need for drama or conflict because it cannot occur when all a person does is just exist. Estragon and Vladimir affect no one, and in vice versa, are never affected. They don’t concern themselves with pursuing ambitions, being religios, progressing and climbing the social ladder, education, a job, etc. They just talk and discuss all while waiting for Godot. They never leave their area, nor even pay attention to time. They just choose to talk, walk around the scenery, and exchange hats. Other than that, they do nothing else but exist. However, when being living realities of existential individuals, they need not to do more but just exist.
Like in many other Existentialist plays, Samuel Beckett introduces the themes of time and purpose to explain the concept of why we exist and explore the idea of whether we just exist in life or if we are alive because of a purpose. I believe that Vladimir’s and Estragon’s purpose in the novel is, ironically, to wait for a purpose. They are “waiting for Godot” to tell them what to do and give them an intention in life. For them, as for all other Existentialist characters, life is pointless and they are “waiting for Godot” to give it meaning. Time is important in this play because a wait consists of time passing. Vladimir and Estragon are not worried about letting time pass without enjoying it and having a path in life. It is important to emphasis that time does not elapse in real life, as it does in the play.
“Waiting for Godot” brings forth the theme of existentialism without ever discussing it directly. The play utilizes it’s two main characters to portray what existentialism is. These characters ask themselves “Why are we here?”. Even though they eventually remember that it is Godot they are there for. This is a perfect example of what our society is. We are always waiting for something to happen or for our questions to be answered by some unknown higher power who has more names than I can possibly mention depending on the culture it originates from. The most commonly used name is God. God is the higher power who we expect to give our lives purpose, and possibly give us hope for the day we die.
As was said before, we expect religion to give us a purpose in life. Although there are some people who actually decide to give meaning to their own lives, by doing something they feel is important. But even though this seems to give ones life meaning, from a spectators view, it makes hardly any difference because the problems will always persist and therefore the meaning in whatever one is doing is lost. This is important because neither character takes this sort of control so I can’t use them as examples for this. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t represent anything. As a matter of fact they represent a crucial part in our society, man’s absurdity and preoccupation in the most trivial things of everyday life.
Waiting is one of the most important themes in Waiting for Godot, if not the most important. Heck, it’s in the title isn’t it? If one were to take the title literally, we would know that the main characters Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for a man named Godot, which we know never appears throughout the entire play. However; like the Bible, I believe Waiting for Godot should be taken in a more symbolic way rather than literal. Having this train of thought, we can assume Godot to symbolize anything that we wait for in society. Yes, that includes God, for those who spend their lives waiting for Him. This does not, however, mean that Godot is God, nor is he limited to representing only God. I believe that Beckett meant to use Godot as a way to show society the absurdity of waiting all your life for something that we might never find out will ever come. Be it God, the messiah, your one true love, a new iPod, a family member, something spontaneous, etc. we all wait for something and through that waiting, we end up doing foolish things that don’t add up to anything of value in our lives. Instead of aimlessly and blindly waiting for anything to happen in our lives, we’d be better off spending our time enjoying what we have of it or at least striving to search for that which we are waiting for. Simply put, it is better to strive than to resign.
Waiting, that is all the characters in this play do, and it’s what we do as well. I don’t feel that this play is a critic of society or of man. I don’t believe it is trying to awaken man to some sort of awareness of the outside world. This is a possible and plausible analysis of the play, but not the one I see. I see the play merely as an acknowledgment of what life is. The barren street and the tree are the world, and the characters in the play are society. The characters, like us wait, because there is nothing better to do. There where never any details that presented any form of outside world. It presents two choices: to wait like Vladimir and Estragon or to travel with indefinitely cause the way Pozzo and Lucky; truly they both become a sort of waiting. What is life then? Life are the games we play while we wait. the same way that Vladimir and Estragon pass time we do too. There’s no aghast about it, it is just life, I believe Becket wants to accept and embrace it.
The concept of time and purpose is very important in Waiting for Godot. Estragon and Vladimir think that their purpose in life is to wait for Godot no matter how long it takes. It takes them so long to wait that they loose the concept of time and start confusing things that already happened with things that are currently happening to them. I think Becket wants us to realize that we spend most of our lives waiting for something big to happen in our lives, but really we are just letting opportunities pass by through time.
Samuel Beckett develops this play around the notion and idea of the suffering of being. Our two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting for Godot; they are just there doing nothing and waiting endlessly for Godot to arrive. But who is this Godot they anxiously wait for? Godot is anything we want it to be. It is that personal purpose each human has of life. Society waits for the answer of who we are?, what is our purpose in this universe?; questions that frankly may never and will not certainly be answered. Both Vladimir and Estragon have no choice but to wait and through their actions we see that existentialism Beckett usually presents in his plays. The play demonstrates that existentialist view we have of life. None of the characters remembers clearly what happened the day before; this means that they are constantly trying to prove their existence in this immense world. It is that struggle humans have of trying to find a meaning to this phenomena we call life. The question of the human condition; who are we as humans? Also, time in this play is very important since all they do is wait for the arrival of Godot. It is cyclical as they repeat the same actions everyday. The play represent what we humans do, live our lives as robots; we do the same thing every single day and ask ourselves the same questions everyday. We simply are waiting for the answer from society to this complicated existentialistic world. In the play, Godot never arrives; Didi and Gogo discovered different elements of life while waiting. This is exactly what we do in society, we wait and through our journey in waiting we discover many things but we never find the answer we are perpetually waiting for. Usually we expect and rely on religion to give us a purpose in life, may it be God, Buddha, Allah, etc. In the play, they are constantly random moments of silence that represent that emptiness and that nothing to be done feeling of Vladimir and Estragon; they just exist. They want Godot to give them a purpose in this meaningless life we choose to live. Why didn’t Didi and Gogo ask the boy where did Godot live?, why didn’t they move or why didn’t Godot never arrived if he knew Didi and Gogo were waiting for him? These are questions with simply no explanations, questions we try to find answers and they are none. Our lives are complete mysteries, it is a never ending game in which we all have the tendency of losing and never understand what life really is.
In Waiting for Godot we perceive how two characters wait and wait for someone that has never shown his presence. For example Vladimir and Estragon ask themselves what are they doing, even though they are perfectly aware that they are waiting for godot, a person who has never appeared in human flesh through out the play.
In this play it is seen how Samuel Beckett present the theme of existentialism he incorporates his views of how society is. It can be said that society is always waiting for something to be done or said on their behalf. If question need answers, we ponder on the fact that society will eventually let us known what this or that is. This is seen in the play with Estragon and Vladimir they are waiting for a higher power which in this case is Godot.
We can also affirm that this play from the first page contains religions context. They speak about the bible which I considered the bible is a religious book written to professes religious things that are not explained with only a word. Within the context we can view an entire definition of society a complete chaos filled with mystery and unexplained situations.
The absurdity of waiting for life to be something more than what it is, is presented in Waiting for Godot. This meaning that we try to give to life is useless because your life is nothing, and will never be nothing more than the same life of the person beside you, in this case we could use Gogo and Didi as an example. Life, just like time and space, can not be altered by us consciously, only the external forces of the universe which we will never get to see, can do that. In this play this external force mentioned is Godot. They keep waiting, uncertain of what to do, for Godot, expecting their life to turn around and for it to be better.
Absurdism states that it is humanly impossible to find meaning in life. This makes life absurd. The point to this in Waiting for Godot is made by the juxtaposition of Gogo and Didi waiting for Godot (who never does and never will arrive). Absurdism does, however, leave room for the pursuit of meaning itself to have meaning. So, who knows? maybe if we check back in a few years Gogo and Didi will have moved from below that tree and have moved on to life without Godot. That IS important, being able to live life without expecting some sort of answer.
Is life meaningless? Is what we do on this planet we call Earth completely useless? I surely don’t know. In Beckett’s Waiting for Godot two men wait for something, they call this something Godot. And He will magically give their pathetic and pointless lives (up to this point) meaning. This can be seen as a direct comparison to humanity searching for “the meaning of life.” Humans wait for some divine intervention to define their lives, to give them purpose. For Vladimir and Estragon, Godot was that divine intervention. Except that he never showed up, so this leads me to wonder…do I as an individual have to wait for society or the world to give MY life meaning?; That sounds more absurd than anything really, to think that all of life’s mysteries shall be resolved magically is totally ridiculous. Even time is relative. Does time pass in Waiting for Godot? Does time even exist? To live without meaning is to live free and that’s what we need to see in this play. Didi and Gogo live trapped in their search
In Waiting for Godot, the characters spend each day performing the same repetitive tasks while waiting for a mysterious character named Godot, who will presumably never arrive. Despite the pointlessness of their lifestyle, they do not seek to improve their condition, as they believe it is their duty to remain in that place until Godot arrives and gives them further instruction.
Though the author presents the characters’ actions as being a result of their own decisions, it doesn’t seem to me like they really have a choice of what to do. The way I see this, there seems to be an omnipresent force that somehow compels them to act or think in a certain way, despite their better judgment. In a way, waiting, for them, becomes a type of punishment that they must endure until they prove themselves worthy of embracing or receiving whatever it is that Godot represents.
The world Estragon and Vladimir live in may appear meaningless because the only reason to exist, the main characters have, is to wait for hope (Godot), which never arrives. The world is how you make it, but the characters are waiting for something else to make the world the way they might want. By taking the path of inaction they live in the part of the world without change, a segment without life that of course will appear without purpose. There as many parts in the world as there things and creatures existing. Each fraction is a world of its own, and the characters made theirs a dead one.
In “Waiting for Godot”, Estragon and Vladimir are waiting passively. Through them we can see an underlying theme of existentialism and the human struggle to construct meaning in a meaningless life. Since knowledge about the world is unreliable and memories regarding the past are unreliable, as seen in the play, what gives you an understanding of who you are, how you came to be here, and what direction you should take in your life? To Estragon and Vladimir, Godot holds those answers.That is why they wait for Godot, they are waiting for some outside force(Godot), to give them a purpose.
In this play, Godot represents all of the things that people wait for in life that arrive too late or not at all. By waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon are not simply expecting another character to arrive; they are waiting for something out of the ordinary to occur. It could even be said that they are waiting actively, since they are concentrating all of their time and energy on waiting rather than taking a moment to perform any of the other activities that they considered doing. Waiting has been their primary focus for so long that they have lost sight of for whom and why they were even there. Vladimir and Estragon fell into a routine so bland that it made their lives lose meaning.
The concept of choice is also strongly present in Beckett’s play. Throughout the entire piece, both individuals had other altrnatives, but they opted against them because they were too preoccupied with waiting. They often had to decide on whether to separate or stay together, end their lives or continue living, go to sleep or stay awake, go home or stay there, talk to each other or remain silent, etc. The answer always was to do nothing and keep waiting for Godot to arrive.
Waiting for Godot has a uniqueness to its plot because at first, after finishing reading it, it leaves such a sense of misleadingness and anxiety that it becomes confusing, and afterwards straight pointlessness. For the reader, the common reaction is the following – “These two character just sat there, doing NOTHING, waiting for NOTHING”, and why not add “And I SAT HERE FOR AN HOUR READING THIS PLAY POINTLESSLY, because it IS pointless.” In my opinion this particular reaction shows one important think about the human psychology – generally we are constantly complaining about how we can spend our time more ‘productively’, we are anxious to spend time that way and to be at peace with it because deep down we are panicked by the thought of doing absolutely nothing, even if that includes not entertaining ourselves for a minute. We are scared of the nothingness, the unknown void that is being nothing against a universe that reduces us to insignificance. We want significance. And Vladimir and Estragon wanted it to by waiting for Godot possibly for endless days. These routine maybe filled their void at some point, although they were trapped in it, they found a purpose at last by waiting for the intervention of Godot to miracously arrive to their tree. I think the concept of waiting is dual in the play – on one side, for these men the verb becomes their lives, their purpose and their existential sustainment; on the other side, if we consider the representation of humanity in these characters, we realize that we are the ones who are trapped in the waiting, even if we are making productivity, because by doing all these actions that make our time on Earth pass on smoothly we are inevitably expecting the result of happiness and peace, and, if anything more could added, that could also be meaning. But just maybe – all concepts tend to be extremely subjective.
In “Waiting for Godot” the two main characters, Vladimir, and Estragon wait both actively and pacifically for Godot under the tree during the entire play. Both characters have nothing else to do, or nowehere else to be at, and so they just waited there for Godot, while entertaining themselves with pointless things as much as they could in the meanwhile. Estragon at some points in the play waits passively by sleeping, which is the only activity done by any of them, that didn’t require any effort, work, or energy, that made time go by faster. On the other hand, both characters waited actively during most of the play by doing various pointless, meaningless activities like cheking the inside of their hats, wearing new hats, smalltalking, contemplating suicide, and inclusively being happy. Yes, even happiness itself in the play is showed as something just as meaningless as switching a hat for another when both characters decide that they were happy, and their lives were still dominated by having to wait for Godot. Happiness in the play is just another of the countless ways in which people on this planet, just like Didi and Gogo, wait for Godot. Yet of course, its preferable by anyone, and I bet Beckett would agree with me on this, that it is more pleasent, pointless or not, to wait for God/Godot happily, than deppressed.
Often we find our lives to be utterly meaningless essentially because there is no purpose for what we do in life, be it as an individual or as a society. But knowing this, we still try to define and achieve some sort of goal which ultimately won’t matter but at least it will distract us from the very same fact that our lives don’t and never will have any meaning .This is the recurring theme in the play “Waiting for Godot”. Both Vladimir and Estragon have chosen to wait for this man named Godot that will supposedly give meaning to their lives, but even though he sends the message that he will be arriving the next day he never seems to. In that timeless cycle, both of the characters perform meaningless activities, such as exchanging hats and watching Lucky dance, that provide the illusion of life and divert their attention from the unfortunate truth. Also at one point Vladimir notices that his life is a repetitive pattern yet he chooses to wait for Godot because deep inside he knows that his life is meaningless and only Godot will change that. Basically we are all in search of something that will provide a sense of permanent greatness but for now it has not been found and it may never be found, but like the characters, I do too hope that it arrives… and soon.
In Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon, the two main characters in the play are waiting for Godot, which is an unknown figure to the reader, in which also the book does not inform the reader if Godot exists or not. The main characters keep waiting for him day after day even though they are disappointed in hearing that he will not show up today but tomorrow – and this continues day after day. At first, we might say that the characters are pointlessly waiting for something that’s obviously not going to show up, but analyzing with different eyes might give us a different perspective such as the characters are waiting for themselves or they are in search of one. I believe that Godot in this play is mentioned as God, in which reading the book we can see how Estragon refers to himself as Adam. I believe that the two are waiting for maybe for God, or maybe for him to peacefully send them to heaven, in which they always stop themselves from hanging one off the tree – maybe they wanted to go peacefully with God by their sides?
Another way I viewed this is seeing the two characters as human races in which in need of God and protection. In which the concept of waiting isn’t pointless, even know they keep repeating it over and over, it shows the need and want of protection and care by “Godot”
Through “Waiting for Godot”, Samuel Becket makes us question how much of our lives is spent simply waiting for things that will never happen, or people that will never come. The main characters in the play, Vladimir and Estragon, present a constant back and forth in their choices, they begin by saying they want to do something, for example when they suggested committing suicide, but at the end of every choice and decision they’re still stuck in the nothingness that surrounds them while they wait. This book portrays how easy and dangerous it is to make waiting part of the routine and end up wasting your life away. Both characters are stuck in this state of nothingness while they wait for a person who will be judging the way they have lived; and based on several clues, such as the boy appearing and saying that Godot will not make it that evening, but he will be there tomorrow, will never actually show up, making all of their waiting, and therefore their lives pointless.
To understand the concept of Waiting in Waiting for Godot, we must first understand what Estragon and Vladimir are waiting for. Alone, lost, and confused in the cruel timeless world, our two hapless protagonists struggle with living. More than once have they decided to commit suicide by hanging. However, the idea of Godot pulls them back and gives them a purpose. This purpose to continue living in the bleak world allows the interpretation of Godot as “Hope”. Estragon and Vladmir are hoping, hoping something glorious will happen that will change such decaying society.
Ironically, it is also this hope that blinds Estragon and Vladmir from truth. On the otherhand, when Pozzo suffered blindness, he became aware of what ife is about. His blindless opens the lock to his soul, and he begins to understand.
Perhaps Beckett is implying that some sort of hope might be futile – that blinds people to menial tasks and suffer in silence? I’d like to connect this with Nectar in a Sieve, and how Ruku’s hope allows her to keep surviving in the slums of India. However, this hope is portrayed in a negative light, as if Beckett wants us to know that hope cannot solve everything. We must begin to take action.
In Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon are stuck inside a cycle: one monotonous day after another. They are continuously waiting for this man who never arrives. Both characters remain passive; there is never a moment in which they commit to taking matters into their own hands. Vladimir and Estragon expect someone else to solve their problems, instead of relying on their own capability to solve them. They choose to stay inactive and wait because they want to fill a void in their being; Vladimir and Estragon want to find a purpose to live. In a way, they do find one, even if it is rather absurd because, for example, this state of waiting keeps them from committing suicide various times and thus provides them with a reason to stay alive. Much like today’s society, these two characters are looking for purpose and meaning. Once they think they have found it, they believe blindly in it in hopes of finding what they are looking for even if it never arrives
Godot is anything that people give meaning to in life, something that makes life worth living. We wait our entire lives for the arrival of “Godot” and pass the time with meaningless activities that keep us from taking the easy way out, which is death. Although the arrival of “Godot” or whatever he symbolizes, is what people wait in excitement for, it is those meaningless activities in between that make the lethargic wait bearable. Both Vladimir and Estragon are trapped in a never ending cycle where the best they can do is kill time with activities such as bickering, talking, and making up situations. They continue the same routine day after day, and although they are tempted by the last resort that is suicide, it is the meaningless things they do that ultimately save their lives. I believe that what Beckett is trying to say with this story is that we wait all our lives, but for what? We fill our lives with meaningless activities just like the characters from the play. Whether or not “Godot” will show up is a mystery, but perhaps this waiting could also be a test of faith. The best that can be done is keep ourselves busy and see what happens.
In Waiting for Godot, Estragon and Vladimir are passively waiting for a man that will never arrive. Because they are passively waiting they get caught up in the passage of time and keeping track of it. They are too focused on the future and on the arrival of Godot that they aren’t able to appreciate the present, because of this they appear unhappy and otherwise minded.
The concept of waiting represents the holding on to time. It represents the struggle of men and how waiting goes hand in hand with the human condition. This is because the two men are persistent and confident, they are loyal and they don’t believe giving up is an option. The concept of making choices also relies in their waiting because they cannot make any sudden choices due to the fact that they are waiting and can’t resign to what is expected of them.
In Waiting for Godot, we have our two main characters actively waiting. It seems as though they are passively waiting because they don’t do anything important while they wait; just repetitive actions that waste time but it’s because of these repetitive actions that they are actively waiting. In the two acts of the play Estragon and Vladimir choose to wait for a mysterious character named Godot, they have the option of leaving but instead they choose to wait because they put all their faith on this mysterious character hoping that Godot can change their lives. The characters do these repetitive actions because they unconsciously know that the moment they stop doing them, they’ll realize they have no purpose or meaning and that’s their greatest fear of all.
The concept of time is represented throughout almost every object in the play. When the characters constantly check their boots and their hats it means the endless and repetitive passage of time. Vladimir and Estragon endlessly wait for Godot and in various occasions they have the choice of changing their cycle but they remain waiting eternally for Godot. They hold on to that small hope even though they realize that it may be pointless because they know in their hearts that maintaining that false hope and waiting is better than admitting that life is pointless and that Godot will never come.
In the play Estragon and Vladimir are passively waiting since they are doing pointless activities to pass the time. They are waiting for someone who will never come. In Waiting for Godot, to wait is Estragon and Vladimir’s way of distracting themselves from their reality. It is a means to remain consciously ignorant of their reality. In a way it is to remain indifferent. They have nothing else to do since suicide is not an option. To wait is just another activity that fills their void. It is what gives meaning to their lives during their time there.