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Themes of “Waiting for Godot” | Thematic Concept of

Samuel Beckett
Themes of “Waiting for Godot”: Existentialism, nothingness, vitality of
hope, sufferings, absurdity, human race, relationships, religion, waiting,
ignorance

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Theme is an idea that pervades a novel, play or poem. “Waiting for

Godot” contains much complex and interesting themes. Samuel Becket
wrote this play with a new style but his thematic concept was not
different form other writers. However, there is a kind of diversity in
themes of “Waiting for Godot”.

Lots of subjects are covered in this play. Its single theme “nothing to
be done” gets good attention. Samuel Becket shows a purposeless life.
It does not have any story or plot, therefore, success of “Waiting for
Godot” is dependent only on its remarkable themes. Following are
some major themes that Samuel Beckett presents in “Waiting for
Godot”:

Nothing to be done.
Importance of hope
Sufferings
Absurdity
Difference in human race
Relationship
Existentialism

Themes of “Meaninglessness” and “Nothing to be Done” in Waiting

for Godot:

“Nothing to be done” is one of the most criticized themes of “Waiting

for Godot”. Vivian Mercier once said:

It is a play in which nothing happens twice”.

Vivian Mercie
We can’t deny that nothing happens in this play. Estragon and
Vladimir enter on stage talk, perform useless actions and exit. Second
act is a copy of first act with minute difference of dialogues. In whole
play one asks a question to the other “what to do?” Other replies
“nothing to be done”. It also starts with the same dialogue. Play goes
on depicting this theme and finally ends with nothingness.
Symbolically, this theme has much importance. It defines the journey
of life; a journey from nothingness to nothingness. We come in the
world but what is our purpose here? What is our identity? Samuel
Becket does not answer these questions instead he asks from the
audience. He himself does not know their answers. Every person in
this world is like Estragon and Vladimir, who is waiting for something
but most of the time he cannot get what he wants and life ends just
like the play ends. Both acts of the play end with despair. Nothing
happens in them. “Nothing to be done” illustrates a meaningless life.

Meaninglessness of Life:

How is life meaningless? Newton came in the world and presented

laws of motion. Was his life meaningless? Most of us would probably
answer negatively. His laws are helpful for the whole world then how
his life was meaningless? Well, Newton’s laws are meaningless for
him now. Not for us but for him. He died and took nothing with him.
His laws are no more helpful for him. In this way, life is meaningless
for him. As mentioned earlier, life is a journey from nothingness to
nothingness. It is much difficult to understand meaninglessness. Let’s
try to understand situation of Estragon and Vladimir with an example.

A person has been waiting for train for five minutes on railway
station. After five minutes train arrives and he leaves. His five
minutes were meaningless because in that time “he had nothing to be
done”.

It should be remembered that there is a difference between “nothing

done” and “nothing to be done”. “Nothing done” strengthens theory of
existentialism.

Importance of hope:

Without hope, there is nothing in life. Optimism comes to an end

without it. Thus, hope is necessary if one wants to live. This play also
depicts this important theme. It forces us to think twice on the
importance of hope. Estragon and Vladimir has nothing to be done yet
they are hopeful. It is only hope due to which they are alive and
waiting for Godot. “Godot” may be a help or maybe God but one thing
is clear that both of them are hopeful about their future. They think
that Godot will come and change their lives. The play ends with
nothingness but “wait and hope” never ends. Estragon and Vladimir
will come again tomorrow at the same place and will wait for Godot
until his arrival. In this way, hope is one of the major themes of
“Waiting for Godot”. .

Sufferings of Life:

Suffering also falls in category of major themes of “Waiting for Godot”.

We witness sufferings of Vladimir and Estragon in this play. They are
living a miserable life. Estragon has been beaten by strangers every
night but he is helpless. God has created this world and has forgotten
it after its creation. It seems that Samuel Becket has given this
message to the audience. Apart from Estragon and Vladimir, Lucky is
also suffering. His life is more miserable than them. Sufferings of
slavery class are evident in this play. We can say that Estragon and
Vladimir are responsible for their miserable condition but Lucky is a
slave and he cannot help himself. He can just wait for good times i.e.
only death. Perhaps, he would find something good in afterlife. But in
this life, he can’t get peace. Vladimir’s speech in this context is helpful.
He says:-

“Was I sleeping while the others suffered? Am I sleeping now?

Tomorrow, when I wake, or think I do, what shall I say of
today?….can’t go on. What have I said?”

Waiting for Godot – Existentialism

Themes of Absurdity and Ridiculousness in “Waiting for Godot”:

Becket shows the world a way of escaping from sufferings of life. Life
can be spent like Estragon and Vladimir: doing nothing, having
irrational behavior, passing the ball and act ridiculously. Perhaps,
absurdity is the only way to get through life. This is also a method to
avoid criticism as it has been said that the best way to avoid criticism
is to do nothing. Personally, I think that it is the most difficult way to
get through life. While doing nothing and repeating silly actions, one
can pass seconds but not whole life. It seems that Becket has preferred
absurdity over existentialism. Anyhow, he has shown a way to go
through life i.e. absurdity.

Difference in Human Races:

Difference in human races is also evident in this play. This theme has
importance of its own. Lucky is a symbol of slavery class, whereas
Pozzo refers feudalism. These characters present two types of human
races. One is miserable, whereas second is happy. Samuel Becket has
shown the inferiority of lower class and superiority of upper class.

Theme of Relationship:

It is another important theme of “Waiting for Godot”. Samuel Becket

portrays different types of human relationships. There are four kinds
of individuals in the play. Every character is a separate entity.
Individually, they refer something but in a relationship they indicate
something else. Vladimir’s problems are mental; Estragon’s physical.
Pozzo and Lucky are presented to show the two races of men. But
when these individuals are put into relations, they perform an
important role. Nevertheless, three types of relationships are there in
the play:

Relationship between Estragon and Vladimir

Association of Pozzo and Lucky
Relationship of Estragon and Vladimir with Godot.

Click to read more on this theme. <

http://www.askliterature.com/drama/theme-of-relationship-in-
waiting-for-godot/>
“Existentialism” is among Major Themes of “Waiting for Godot”:

It is a wider topic and needs explanation. “Existentialism” is the most

important theme of “Waiting for Godot”. In order to understand this
theme we must have knowledge about theory of Existentialism <
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism> . However, in simple
words it means that every person is responsible for his actions and no
second person is pulling his strings or controlling his fate. In other
words (from oxford), existentialism emphasizes the existence of the
individual person as a free.

Estragon, Vladimir, Pozzo and Lucky: are they all free? Are they
himself responsible for their actions. Can’t say “Yes” nor can say “No”.
Lucky is not free. A person who is slave from childhood can’t do
anything to change his life. People beat Estragon every night and he is
helpless.

Samuel Becket has not answered the above said questions. We see
every character has freewill yet some limitations are imposed on
them. In case of Lucky, someone is pulling his strings whereas in case
of Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir they are free.

See also:

Existentialism in Literature | Movement in Literature and

Philosophy < http://www.askliterature.com/drama/samuel-
beckett/waiting-for-godot/existentialism-in-literature/>

A separate detailed article one theme of existentialism in “Waiting for

Godot” will soon be published.

In a nutshell, the “Waiting for Godot” has many remarkable themes.

Samuel Becket has closely observed life, therefore, every theme is
related to life and reality. There are some other important themes of
this play such as:

Religion
Mortality
 Waiting
Ignorance
Impotence

Themes of “Waiting for Godot” directly strike minds of audience and

give this play a good success. It seems that Samuel Becket, very
minutely and after experiments, has rendered various themes in
“Waiting for Godot”. Hence, there is no denying the fact that themes
give this play a striking success.

Answers Questions Help

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Article Name Themes of "Waiting for Godot" | Thematic Concept of

Samuel Beckett

Description Themes of "Waiting for Godot": Existentialism,

nothingness, vitality of hope, sufferings, absurdity,
human race, relationships, religion, waiting, ignorance

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