The Search for Meaning in Waiting for Godot

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The Search for Meaning in Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot portrays the dwelling natures of Estragon and Vladimir as they wait for the appearance of Godot, a character to whom Beckett attaches a deep mystery to be left unexplained as the story closes. While Beckett leaves the true identity of Godot up to speculation after the end of the play, it can be inferred that, by analyzing the relationship between Estragon, Vladimir and their apparent liberator Godot, Godot himself embodies a sense of purpose for these men. They wait for Godot to arrive and bring a redirection of their lives they hope will lead them in a direction of prosperity and significance, an extreme contrast from the pointless, repetitive world in which they live. The pair of Pozzo and Lucky represents those who have chosen their role in the world. Their active, imbalanced personalities demonstrate the relationship between a leader and a follower in order to contrast the indecisive quality that both Vladimir and Estragon possess. Beckett embraces the Theater of the Absurd to prove that the characters of Vladimir and Estragon are representations of humans without a purpose or direction in life who are perpetually waiting for choices to be made for them. There are those who are undecided about the type of person he or she is. On the contrary, Waiting for Godot presents Pozzo and Lucky whose relationship involves one person who seems to dominate and another who appears to be naturally inferior. From the moment they are introduced in the first act, Pozzo asserts his dominance over Lucky both physically and mentally. Not only does Pozzo drag Lucky oppressively around by leash, but he also reiterates his mental dominance by speaking on Lucky’s behalf, demonstrating that, as Lucky’s mental and physical owner, Pozzo has the responsibility to speak for him as he does: POZZO:
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