The “Waiting” in Waiting for Godot

【Abstract】This paper discusses the “waiting” in Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot from three aspects： The self-split of the “waiting”， the ambiguous object of the “waiting” and the fragmented inner dimension of the “waiting”. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the profound exploration of the present living situation and the inner feelings of modern people in the absurd drama. The “waiting” has also been internalized from the traditional external state of action into the essence of human beings.

【Key words】waiting; absurd; time

【作者簡介】王藝蓓，武漢大學外國語言文學學院。

Waiting for Godot， written in 1952， is a representative work of the absurd drama with two acts. The play merely has storyline. It tells the story of two tramps， Estragon and Vladimir， waiting day after day for a man named Godot in the background of one bare tree. In the meantime， they also met the slave owner Pozzo and his servant Lucky. These four people behave in a boring conversation. The whole play shows illogical scenes in an irrational form， showing that the basic state of human existence is absurd， and this absurdity is traumatic. It reflects the profound spiritual crisis of modern people. Three aspects of “waiting” will be discussed below in order to understand the meaning of “waiting” better.

1. The Self-Split of the Waiting

Waiting subjects can be divided into two categories. One is direct waiting， represented by two vagrants， Estragon and Vladimir， who are no longer the heroes of traditional drama and have no clear character and experience. They just wait for Godot clearly， but why they wait for Godot and who Godot is， they dont know themselves. The other kind of waiting is the indirect subject represented by the slave master Pozzo and Lucky. When they come out， Pozzo tie a rope around the neck of Lucky， reflecting the relationship between slavery and enslavement. In the second act， the relationship between Pozzo and Lucky changes. Pozzo becomes blind and has to rely on Lucky to guide him. We can see them as two sides of the same self-split： autocracy and slavery， evil and goodness， which can be transformed into each other and indicates the complexity of human nature.

2. The Fragmented Inner Dimension of the Waiting

The two tramps argue about what day they are in the works. All they have to do is to kill time with meaningless action and conversation， waiting for the possible “Godot”. Pozzo suddenly lost his watch and inexplicably became a blind man who could not see everything. This shows that the characters in the drama gradually lost their sense of time， that is to say， the inner dimension of “waiting” has been broken. The existence becomes an uncertain fragment. Without time， man loses himself， and waiting becomes the only thing that can be determined in the chaos. In waiting， that is， in cruel time， they can grasp even a very weak self to a certain extent. It can be seen that in the world of broken time， the “waiting” is endowed with the only meaning： Meaninglessness.

3. The Ambiguous Object of the Waiting

Godot is the object of waiting. There are different opinions about who is Godot. When the author was asked about this， his answer was： “If I knew it， I would have said it in the play. It doesnt matter who Godot is. Its important to wait. If Godot doesnt come， its worth waiting. If Godot comes， then the waiting will end， and the meaning of waiting will cease to exist. Thus it can be seen that the endless absence of Godot is the highlight of the authors artistic creation.

When breathing becomes a habit， we dont feel the presence of air， because you have integrated yourself into the whole air. Waiting is the habit of life. When we are fully integrated into life， we cant realize that we are also in a waiting state. Waiting for Godot shows the embarrassment of the human situation in this absurd world through a fictional stage. On the other hand， it also shows us that we must not give up waiting in such a world. Waiting lets people know that they are alive， and it also brings hope for them.

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