Relationships In Waiting For Godot

Samuel Beckett’s two act play, Waiting for Godot, has been dubbed “a play in which nothing happens, twice" by Irish literary critic Vivian Mercier. There are only five characters, whose role in the drama never change; the plot of the story remains similar, with Vladimir and Estragon waiting for Godot to arrive but never appear. These two qualities allow Mercier to draw the accurate conclusion that nothing really happens twice. With little alteration in the plot, changes in the characters from one act to the next are more noticeable. There is an evident change in the character Pozzo. Pozzo is a slave owner, and one of his oppressed slaves is Lucky. Though Pozzo’s status never evolves, his dependency on Lucky shifts from Act I of the play to …show more content…
He attempts to dehumanize Vladimir and Estragon by reassuring them that they are “of the same species,” even though they mistakened him for someone else.This is different from the way Vladimir and Estragon speak to Pozzo and Lucky. Both Vladimir and Estragon see everyone as equals and are infuriated when Pozzo speaks down to Lucky. The relationship between Vladimir and Estragon is drastically different from the relationship that Pozzo and Lucky have. Vladimir and Estragon share a companionship and compares themselves to be equivalent, instead of the slave and master relationship between Pozzo and Lucky. Since their relationship is based on enslavement, their existence is historically harmful; Vladimir and Estragon’s relationship, on the other hand, is introspective since they benefit from each and try to keep each other sane. They see each others as equals, working symbiotically, which is different from Pozzo and Lucky’s relationship. Beckett illustrates the means to prosper and escape an old life for a better one in Vladimir and Estragon’s relationship. The opposite is shown in Pozzo and Lucky’s relationship, which correlates with oppression and domination over one …show more content…
Continuing through the play, Pozzo and Lucky are introduced midway through the first act. Pozzo and Lucky are represented to have a slave and master relationship. Pozzo oppresses Lucky and tries to do the same to Vladimir and Estragon. When Pozzo and Lucky reappear in the second act, Pozzo is blind and needs the help from Lucky to lead him around. Beckett makes the transition in Pozzo and Lucky’s relationship to demonstrate how nothing lasts forever. The shift in dependency amongst Pozzo and Lucky gave them equal power over one another and not one having more than the other. Pozzo, as an independent, changes from Act I to Act II, moving from the oppressor to becoming one who now needs assistance from the ones he degraded. Pozzo is the symbol of