Friendship And Companionship In Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot

Humans have an innate need for physical contact and companionship, regardless of its level: whether one achieves companionship through friendship or rivalry is unimportant. People anchor others to reality, and serve as emissaries to three dimensional thinking. For example, in the play Waiting for Godot, the main characters Vladimir and Estragon openly admit that they cannot exist without each other. Although Vladimir and Estragon physically would not be able to survive without each other, their metaphysical connection is far more important. Humans have an innate need for others; examining the relationships that manifest as a result of this need allow for a deeper understanding of the human condition. In the plays Waiting for Godot, No Exit, …show more content…
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is a perfect example of characters needing each other. By creating a very dynamic relationship between Vladimir and Estragon, consisting of many high and low points, Beckett allows for examination of the nature of human relationships. At one point in the play, Vladimir and Estragon have a very stichomythic conversation, where they consistently throw degrading insults at one another. Vladimir calls Estragon an, “abortion, sewer-rat, and cretin” (66), yet lines later he rather lightheartedly says, “How time flies when one has fun” (66). Encounters like this exist throughout the play. They show that despite turbulent times in their relationship, Vladimir and Estragon need each other to vent their emotions. If negative emotions of anger and spite build up, relationships can be harmed. Despite the unorthodoxly cruel nature of this venting, it allows Estragon and Vladimir to anchor each other to reality, and in turn strengthen their relationship. In his essay, “Essay on Waiting for Godot”, Michael Sinclair states that,
The world seems utterly chaotic. We therefore try to impose meaning on it through pattern and fabricated purposes to distract ourselves from the fact that our situation is hopelessly unfathomable. ‘Waiting for Godot’ is a play that captures this feeling and view of the world, and characterizes it with archetypes that symbolize …show more content…
In this play, a plethora of blind men and women sit patiently in a clearing while they wait for their sighted guide-priest to bring them back to their asylum. Unbeknownst to the blind people, the Priest is within striking distance from all of them, dead and decomposing. Despite the result of their outing, the men and women need each other to survive for as long as they do. The men, who are generally cynical and negative, would act as a foil to the more level headed, but overly optimistic women. Without each other, either group may make a rash decision that reaps more negative consequences. The balance between the groups allows for a check of the dominating values. Although not pertinent to the situation that they find themselves in, a perfect example of this check can be seen when they are observing the smells of the environment around them. One of the blind women says, “I smell an odor of flowers about us” (92). One of the men responds, “I smell only the smell of the earth” (92). Despite the innocence and unimportance of the woman’s observation, the man still feels a need to oppose it. The men and women never agree on superficial problems; they bicker until it is no longer enjoyable to disagree. However, when it comes to important matters, neutral beliefs that exist between polarized views prevail, and help to ensure survival. Despite the air of tension and dislike between some of the