Thinking Activity - Waiting For Godot

Hello Readers ,

This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this is given by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. Sir ask some questions on " Waiting for Godot " and in this blog I would like to try to gave answers of those questions.

In this blog contains the worksheet and follow up of the play "Waiting for Godot" discussed in the class.After viewing the movie adaptation (Waiting for Godot) of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Beckett, Waiting for Godot), in our classroom. Samuel Beckett was a modern playwright and was associated with the "Theatre of the Absurd". This play is originally written in French with the title En Attendant Godot. 

              Let's  ,we have discuss questions- answers :

1.What connection do you see in the setting (A country road, A tree, Evening) of the play and these paintings?

          There is a theme of longing in his paintings. Which represents ambition. It shows a price to wait for. Longing is the intense desire for something. In this painting two persons look at sunset and sunrise. Which is depicted as a symbol of hope. Which is something we see in the play. 

                     The author’s purpose in both painting and play is different. David Casper is attracted to the spirit so his paintings show imagination and nature and his romance. While Beckett's motives are quite contradictory. Which seeks to show the meaninglessness of life through a desolate tree.

2. The tree is the only important ‘thing’ in the setting. What is the importance of trees in both acts? Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in Act II on the barren tree - The tree has four or five leaves - ?

The tree shown in Waiting for Godot is also a symbol. Which shows agility in man. Waiting for Godot Beckett's write from David Caspar's painting. He wants to show that the tree stands here and there as a hope. Similarly, the two characters in Waiting for Godot are also waiting for Godot here. When two leaves grow on this tree. It is a symbol of hope. That is how two leaves have sprouted on this tree. In the same way there is a hope that Godot might come today.

3.In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when factually they are waiting for Godot?

The coming moon scene with hopes in this play. Because day after night and night after day. In the same way, when night is falling and the moon is rising. It points to a gradual Morning. That is, a new hope, the possibility of exhilaration. Perhaps Beckett awakens in us a hope that Godot may come in the evening or even in the moonlight through the moonlight at night. Such a theme arises there. Which might even happen at night to meet with Godot. 

4.The director feels the setting with some debris. Can you read any meaning in the contours of debris in the setting of the play?

A country road. A Tree. 

Evening." (Act 1)

"Next day. Same Time.

Same place."(Act 2)

'Waiting for Godot' is an Absurd play which highlights the absurdities of life. And use of Debris in a film which was released in 2001 directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg shows the meaning. Debris is rubbish kind of waste by using that film maker creatively using his artistic liberty to create Irrationality, Meaninglessness, Nothingness and pointlessness of life.This play also can be read as a response to the destructive effect of the second world war. And this use of debris in a setting can also be analyzed as a battlefield after war, where now everythings seems useless.

5. The play begins with the dialogue “Nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in the play?

"Waiting for Godot' does not tell a story; it explores a static situation. "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful." On a country road by a tree two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon are waiting." 

                                    As Martin Esslin puts it, the play is surrounded by nothingness. And Beckett begins his play with a dialogue -

ESTRAGON:(giving up again). Nothing to be done 

                           This statement - "Nothing to be done" is repeated almost four times in the play. This statement carries deep philosophical meanings. It defines the struggle to Find Meaning in Purposeless Life. The very form of the play Waiting for Godot indicates the unbearably repetitious nature of life altogether. Samuel Beckett provides us with two acts in the play – two acts which both follow the same basic plotline. A repetitious existence renders all efforts to struggle futile; in a life that repeats the same events over and over, individuals like Estragon and Vladimir can only wait out a seemingly unending, mind-numbing existence and, at best, find ways to pass the time. 

6. 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. Marshall who played Vladimir in the original Broadway production 1950s)?

Estragon and Vladimir both suffer from same fate. Both have boots and hat but both focus on different thing Estragon focus on boots rather than hat. Vladimir focus on hat rather than boots. So people have both in their life boots ( materialistic things ) and hat ( intellectual sense ) but person focus on only one things. Estragon wears boots it represents materialistic things. It represents artificiality of life , human body. 

Estragon not satisfied with his boots it hurts him. It shows unsatisfied nature of human.Vladimir wears hat it shows intellectual power of thinking man. He constantly thinking about Godot. He can remember everything because of that he suffers a lot. His thoughts hurts him a lot. Hat represent mind and rational life. He becomes helpless because he remember everything so he can't escape from the things. Because he constantly think he can't sleep. So it shows that person should be balance both mind and heart.

7.The play begins with the dialogue “Nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in the play?

Estragon and Vladimir both suffer from same fate. Both have boots and hat but both focus on different thing Estragon focus on boots rather than hat. Vladimir focus on hat rather than boots. So people have both in their life boots ( materialistic things ) and hat ( intellectual sense ) but person focus on only one things. Estragon wears boots it represents materialistic things. It represents artificiality of life , human body. Estragon not satisfied with his boots it hurts him. It shows unsatisfied nature of human.

Vladimir wears hat it shows intellectual power of thinking man. He constantly thinking about Godot. He can remember everything because of that he suffers a lot. His thoughts hurts him a lot. Hat represent mind and rational life. He becomes helpless because he remember everything so he can't escape from the things. Because he constantly think he can't sleep. So it shows that person should be balance both mind and heart.

8.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?

As per class discussion, some people like to be servant whole life, we have taken one example of god's servant. Yes, the obedience of Lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic. We are tie by rigid and with a religious hidden rope that is not actually physically but mentally and we don't want to do free ourselves from them like Lucky.

9.Who according to you is Godot? God? An object of desire? Death? Goal? Success? Or ...

According to me desire and success is Godot. Human has uncountable desires in the life. If one will fulfill so people never get satisfaction the crave of getting better things keeps growing. Also successful life will never come because the successful life means person is happy and satisfy with the things. But in reality true success never come because person never get satisfaction and happiness after getting things. It remains for some movement. So these desire and successful life become Godot that will never come and it has never end. Though it gives purpose of living life to the person.

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?

Yes , I am agree that the subject of play is not Godot but waiting. Waiting is the important thing in the play. Estragon and Vladimir do many things during waiting. In our life we all are waiting for death. In between we do many things to kill the time. The play focus on what we do in our lives. Person abusing each other, spending time unnecessary things like dancing and signing. Vladimir and Estragon contradict each other and question everything , abused each other , doing exercise, hanging. So they do variety of things to killing time.

11.Did you feel the effect of existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and indifference Universe during screening of the movie? Where and when exactly that feeling was felt, if ever it was?

A character like Lucky and treatment of Pozzo with Lucky, it creates a question for existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence. Some dialogues like 'Nobody comes, Nobody goes, It's awful.' in other words, 'Somebody comes, somebody goes, yet nothing happens', it is also raised a question and I feel the meaninglessness of human existence.

12.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?

Yes, I agree with Esslin's point of view. "The subject of the play is not Godot but Waiting". We can see in the play that nothing happens except meaningless waiting. In our life we are also waiting for meaningless matters. In the different stages of life we are waiting for different types of Godot(waiting). According to our desires we are waiting to fully fill them. And at last we are waiting for death ! So we can say that the subject is waiting rather than Godot.

13. Which of the following sequence you liked the most:

Vladimir – Estragon killing time in questions and conversations while waiting

Pozzo – Lucky episode in both acts

 I like Vladimir's conversation with the boy. Because this conversation is quite different from all other conversations. We listen to their conversation curiously. It is noticeable that Vladimir becomes serious while talking with the little boy. Conversation of Vladimir and Estragon makes us very bored, so that's why I don't like their conversation. In the first conversation Vladimir is little bit happy because he think that Godot send his messenger for them. He ask some interesting questions to messenger boy, like

When will Godot come? 

What Godot is doing ?

Godot give you food ?

Has he beat you ?

Are you frightened ? 

 

So this dialogue makes it curious to listen to the conversation. In the second conversation we can see Vladimir's selfishness. This is also very interesting dialogues to be listen. 

14.Vladimir and Estragon talks about ‘hanging’ themselves and commit suicide, but they do not do so. How do you read this idea of suicide in Existentialism?

Vladimir and Estragon talks about hanging themselves and decide to commit suicide. But they do not. One possible reason can be given to that is that we are habituated to living life. First we learn to live life and then we are able to escape from that. Because we get somewhat used to it. Now we can't kill ourselves because we love to live our life whether there are problems or not, because suffering is a basic tendency to live life. 

15.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 II? Which country stands for 'Godot'?

Waiting for Godot is written after the second world war. So, War effects can be clearly noticed here. Some characters also represent some countries on the basis that we can do Political reading of play.

If we do political reading and connect character with European nations then Vladimir stands for Russia, Estragon for France, Pozzo represents Italy and Lucky symbolizes England.

16.So far as Pozzo and Lucky [master and slave] are concerned, we have to remember that Beckett was a disciple of Joyce and that Joyce hated England. Beckett meant Pozzo to be England, and Lucky to be Ireland." (Bert Lahr who played Estragon in a Broadway production). Does this reading make any sense? Why? How? What?

Ireland was controlled by England. He had established his authority. England took power in Ireland and we can portray her as અ slaves. In the play it is also seen in the relationship between a Lucky and Pozzo. How Lucky Pozzo enslaved himself. He was drawing it like that. When Ireland gains its independence. But Ireland depends on England. It is not completely independent. It depends on it as part of the economy.

17.How does this conversation go in Act II? Is there any change in seeming similar situations and conversation? If so, what is it? What does it signify?

The two parts in this play are the same. They look the same in their setting, theme and every event that happens in it. Finally there is a change. In that Act-I, Vladimir speaks of "we". But in Act-II it speaks only of "I". That 'I am the only one waiting for Godot'. So from “we” came “I”. That is, selfishness is found in the nature of Vladimir at the end of the play.

Thank you....