Close Reading 2
Every day the forlorn tramps wait at the same place … in readiness, with intent, looking forward, in expectation, creating an interval of suspense. We pass the time with them while the waiting goes on. We expect the future to clarify and resolve the present. But the future does not come.
Vladimir and Estragon want to avoid the emptiness of the repetitive daily round. Only when they find that they have ‘nothing to do’ are they conscious of the reason for them being here - they’re waiting, for Godot.
If they are to escape from the boredom of waiting and its attendant dangers of thinking too precisely about their condition, they must distract attention from their unbearable reality, to prove they exist, in order to stay sane. The comic relief of their improvised games distracts Vladimir and Estragon from the nothingness of reality and helps numb the pain of living: ‘We don’t manage too badly, eh Didi, between the two of us?’ says Estragon, ‘We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?’
Their habitual obsession with talking, bickering, falling asleep, engaging with Pozzo and Lucky, eating radishes or carrots, fitting boots and hats or ‘doing the tree’ exercises are all attempts to help pass the time while they wait.
Silence is the ultimate assault on their only way of waiting - talking, about anything, which is something to be done to pass the time and make the unendurable torment of waiting more endurable:
[Long silence.]
Vladimir: Say something!
Estragon: I’m trying.
[Long silence.]
Vladimir: [In anguish.] Say anything at all!
Estragon: What do we do now?
Vladimir: Wait for Godot.
Estragon: Ah!
[Silence.]
Vladimir’s repetitive insistence that they are ‘waiting for Godot’ increasingly wearies Estragon. He frequently articulates his anxiety that they may be waiting in vain: ‘And if he doesn’t come? … If he came yesterday and we weren’t here you may be sure he won’t come again today … ’
They remain, forever trapped upon the stage, forever hoping to better their endurance of the hopelessness of their waiting. Habitual waiting, as Vladimir concludes, ‘is a great deadener’. The two hours we share with him and Estragon support his conclusion.
