Waiting For Godot Movie Scene

Waiting For Godot Blog Response 2

The opening scene of Waiting for Godot is superb, and as in many plays, novels and movies, the opening scene is crucial and full of meaning. The case is so in this movie. The opening scene shows a lot more than what is apparent, and it illustrates a great deal about the novel. That is why I chose it for my analysis.

First the setting: desolate, dry, dead. A plain of rock and dullness far as the eye can see, but set on a small stage of rocky hills and a road. The tree,  is a symbol of life. However the tree is dead, and alones. This contrasts to what a tree would symbolize in common literature. The setting is nothing there is no life, it shows the absurdity of the situation. The vast nothingness can symbolize life and its lack of meaning. The tree represents the hope that we all have in our vast plain of nothingness, a hope that never lives and never fully dies. The characters appear followed by a period of silence in which Estragon attempts to remove his boot. The two men are in an unknown place; this doesn’t seem to worry them all that much. They are more preoccupied with the location of Godot, and all the while Estragon attempts to remove his boot, a boot that represents the burden of society and its quest to find meaning. The boot has to be removed every day (to paraphrase Vladimir) and however it is a pain for Estragon, a necessary pain. The boot is to Estragon what the rock is to Sisyphus. Then comes the phrase “nothing to be done”. The phrase simply illustrates the lack of hope in life, the absurdity of the situation. They have reached the point to where they accept the absurd and take of the boot. Because there is nothing to be done.

Waiting For Godot Blog 1

Waiting For Godot Blog 1

As I finished reading the last page of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett I was left with a feeling of uncertainty and confusion. I didn’t quite understand it, to the point that I was frustrated and disliked the play. My confusion and frustration was rooted in the lack of plot and action in the play. Who is Godot? Why are they there? I had so many questions and no answers. Later I started to understand that this had no meaning and that the point of the author was exactly to write a very inconclusive play. From what I gathered, Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for something or someone-Godot- all they know is they want to find him or it desperately. The two men constantly mention that Godot will save them. What Godot represents is something people seek eternally: a meaning to their life. Often they think of hanging themselves, the thought of Godot’s possible appearance-or even existence- restrains them. It is definitely a very abstract book, even it could be labeled minimalist. The vast endless plain-nothingness as described in the book- is a representation of human existence, how it is vast and plain and endless. And with all this people still wait for something or someone who will never appear and will promise to appear tomorrow.

The Stranger Blog Response 3

Existence is Absurd

Existence is absurd. Life has no meaning. Eventually people will die, and it won’t matter what they did in their lifetime because at the end we will all be dust. If one would enter the debate of the meaning (or lack of) of life, the discussion would last forever. The arguments are intangible and subjective, it is all a matter of perspective. What is unquestionable is that the idea that the book tries to convey is: Existence is Absurd. All along the novel Meursault expresses his disregard for life and how nothing really matters. He kills the Arab, and he never finds a reason for why he did it, precisely that his disregard for life drives him to think at the moment constantly. The last paragraph shows how Meursault, after a short near-death panic, returns to his normal state and accepts death with one thought in mind: Existence IS absurd.