Character Analysis Of Samuel Beckett's Treatment Of Characters

Decent Essays
Samuel Beckett’s treatment of characters reveals that the “ditch” is not too far away. First, all the characters are static, meaning they don’t change over the course of the play. They are, “nothing more than a little heap of bones,” all the way from the beginning until the end. First, each of the individuals are pitiful slobs, cowards, and narcissists who lack all forms of competence. Their character, or lack thereof, shows no self-respect. The constant gestures to the, “rags” Vladimir and Estragon wear are indicative enough of their current situation. The two obviously have no notion of cleanliness: they “stink of garlic,” and wait on the side of a dusty road, “[wiping] carrot[s] on [their] sleeves,” and, “spitting.” The pair have grown …show more content…
He is one of the “hollow men” living an empty and barely human life. Vladimir expresses his loneliness by crying out that that he, “is lonely!” even though this cruel world can offer him no solace. For all of their, “lousy [lives they’ve] crawled around in the mud.” After hitting the lowest of lows, the struggle to, “find something…to give [them] the impression [they] exist.” After concluding that life, “is becoming really insignificant,” they realize that, “there’s no lack of void,” in their lives. Vladimir recognizes that he is, “in hell,” which is, “too much for one man.” After despairing that, “in an instant all will vanish and we’ll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness,” it is clear to the audience that they themselves are these “nothingy men” who lack memory, bravery, manners, and polish. Leading this pointless life, the characters decide to, “not do anything,” because there are no meaningful pursuits, seeing as they’ll, “never get anywhere.” They are doomed to an existence where, “nothing happens, nobody comes, [and] nobody goes. Beckett’s treatment of characters reveals that the “ditch” is not too far …show more content…
First, it does not take long before the reader becomes accustomed to the deteriorated dialogue used by the characters at regular intervals. The intermittent, “pah,” “ah,” “hsst,” “eh,” “pooh,” and “er,” prove just how well they are able to express themselves. Comically, even Pozzo seems relatively intimidated by Estragon’s fumbling speech: “that’s to say…the dusk…the strain…waiting…I confess…for a second.” Of course, in a play full of pointless and meaningless dialect, there’s always one character whose intellect and fervour set them apart from the other idiots. In Waiting for Godot, that character is clearly Lucky. His immortal soliloquy features the verbose and excellent selections of, “acacacacademy,” and “quaquaquaqua.” He skilfully places intermittent pauses as an added effect: “what do you say? (they say nothing).” Some may even view Beckett as one of the greatest authors to ever exist. His invention of words like, “waggerim,” and, “pppfff,” to suit his purpose combined with the lone simile that compares Lucky to a, “banana skin,” displays his thorough understanding of how we humans botch the English language. Next, though the characters attempt to display their intelligence, they often speak in only fragments and splinters of sophisticated speech. They are too stupid to determine what, “the point is,” and waste time searching for words they don’t know the meaning of. Their general

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