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” Then all the dogs came running

And dug the dog a tomb-

He stops, broods, resumes:

Then all the dogs came running

And dug the dog a tomb” (p.58).

The play is deliberately unnatural and abstract because it is intended to have universal meaning. The world of Estragon and Vladimir is fragmented of time and place and is submerged with vague recollections of culture and the past. For example Estragon remembers the Bible with uncertainty:

” I remember the maps with of the Holy Land. Coloured they were.” (p.12).

The lack of knowledge of the tramps’ culture and past symbolize the breakdown of culture and tradition in the twentieth century. After surviving two World Wars, the tradition of the West has been shattered and culture has greatly changed. The Holocaust showed the atrocities of war and destroyed peoples’ beliefs about human nature. The effects of political reforms, such as communism, marxism, and science has obliterated society’s belief in the church. Nietzche declared the “death of God”, as he felt that religion no longer offered a suitable framework for living. Esrtagon and Vladimir’s uncertainty symbolizes the uncertainty of living in the twentieth century and more generally the uncertainty of existence. Estragon is uncertain about their location and timing inquiring, “You’re sure it was here? ? You’re sure it was this evening?” (p.15).

Beckett infers that out of certainty arises certainty. Out of the uncertainty of waiting Vladimir becomes aware with certainty that they are waiting, thinking with clarity, “? what do we do now that we’re happy ? go on waiting ? waiting ? let me think ? it’s coming ? go on waiting” (p.65).

Beckett displays the sheer randomness of life through the events of the play. Life is portrayed as unfair, risky and arbitrary. Estragon shows the chance involved in the health of his lungs stating, “My left lung is very weak! ? But my right lung is as sound as a bell!” Estragon and Vladimir ponder why one out of the three thieves was saved, which displays the luck or misfortune involved in life. The chaos of this world portrays the absurdity of the characters within the play.

Proust believed that an individual wakes a literally new person with their past memories intact to help them govern their actions in the present. Beckett raises questions about the past or memory governing the individual’s identity. The characters identities are uncertain, as the past and their memories are uncertain. Vladimir tries to come to terms with his existence and the human condition: “It’s too much for one man. ? On the other hand what’s the point of losing heart now” (p.10).

Bishop Berkeley proposed the philosophical hypothesis that being perceived was being or existing. Vladimir desperately asks the boy, “You did see us, didn’t you?” (p.52), and Estragon later questions, “Do you think God sees me?” (p.76), because they are uncertain about their own senses, reality and existence. Beckett poses the theory that reality is based on the human perception. Schopenhauer devised the vision, akin to Buddhism, that the desiring self does not exist in any ‘real’ sense, except through the painful consequences of wilful self-assertion.

Estragon asks, “We’ve lost our rights?”, while Vladimir replies, “We got rid of them.” (p.19). Perhaps they are pondering the idea that they have no choice in their future and think their fate is preordained, although this would contradict the existentialist notion of free will. The tramps cannot perceive the future and therefore would be unable to know if their future is preordained. Equally, the tramps could have ‘no rights’ because they are devoted to the task of waiting. Heidegger said that instead of trying to comprehend one’s existence each individual must choose a goal and follow it with passionate conviction.

Kierkagaard ultimately advocated a ‘leap of faith’ into a Christian way of life, which, although incomprehensible, was the only commitment he believed could save the individual from despair. Beckett seems to portray the incomprehensibility and irrationality of faith or hope and perhaps feels advocating ‘a leap of faith’ limits the individual’s choice. Despite Beckett’s denial of Godot’s symbolism to God, Godot does have a strong connection towards a god of some kind. Godot could be a hero, a religious symbol, a role model but most importantly a symbol of hope. Note the more Gogo and Didi converse about this supposed Mr. Godot (who may not exist) the more importance this god-like figure or symbol acquires. Vladimir illustrates the absurdity and the delusive nature of hope, as he has premonitions of Godot’s arrival: “Listen! ? Hssst! (? They listen, huddled together.) I thought it was ? Godot. ? I could have sworn I heard shouts.” (p.19). Gogo replies more realistically, “Pah! The wind in the reeds.” Camus talked of the Absurd in The myth of Sisyphus, meaning a life lived solely for its own sake in a universe that no longer made sense because there was no God to resolve the contradictions. Absurdity in the play is a by-product of their metaphysically absurd condition; it is the best they can hope for, the worst they always expect.

Beckett distrusted language

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