Waiting For Who?

“Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett is possibly the most confusing play I have ever read. Although noticeably funny, the play’s simplicity suggests that there is a lot more to it than what you read. For example Godot, who is he? Or rather, what is he? And why do Vladimir and Estragon keep waiting for him? Do they know him? And why doesn’t Godot he ever come?

To me, Godot is the personification of God. Why he never comes I cannot understand. However, the fact that Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for him somehow demonstrates how men in the real world are also always waiting for a God that might never come. What seems foolish though is how Vladimir and Estragon keep returning to the spot where they are to wait for Godot despite the fact that he never comes. Are men like that? Do we keep waiting for God even when we know deep inside that he might never come? I believe so. The problem is, why do we? Is it because we are afraid of abandoning the illusion that he might come or is it because we are afraid of what he might do if he did come and we were not there waiting for him? But then what kind of a benevolent God is he if he were to do something to us if he did not find us waiting for him?

Nevertheless, my questions go beyond the play’s title. The tree: What does it represent? Why did it grow leaves all of a sudden?  Does it represent life, the fact that it is a blossoming tree, or does it represent death, the fact that Didi and Gogo want to hang themselves from it?

Furthermore, Pozzo and Lucky intrigue me. Their love/hate relationship reminds me of the old guy’s relationship to his cocker in “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. Why does Lucky keep up with that? What sort of human being is he? And why does Pozzo become blind all of a sudden?

Finally, perhaps the most enduring question I have regards a tiny detail from the book. Except from Vladimir, why can’t anyone seem to remember anything from the day before? More importantly, why is Vladimir the only one who can remember?

Although the play is fun to read and its random dialogues and simple occurrences cause the reader to giggle, I believe I will not be able to grasp the play’s basic meaning and message before I am able to answer these questions. To me, the play resembles some kind of critique towards men and their blindness and weakness and everlasting hope of being saved. Nevertheless, I prefer to answer these thoughts before solidifying my shallow verdict.