Symbolism in Waiting For Godot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

symbolization in waiting For Godot - Essay ExampleAlthough Godot does not arrive during the course of the crop, his anticipation sets up the mount for the musings and conversations of Estragon and Vladimir. Author Samuel Beckett creatively exploits this open ended plot structure to ponder over consequential questions about the homophile condition. Given that it was published in the aftermath of the Holocaust, it asks deep and compelling questions of the country of human civilization and the nature of our species. Such utterances from the two lead characters as to hold the terrible silence at bay, Nothing to be done, We argon saved, etc offer profound interpretive desktop for the reflective reader. (Beckett, 1956) The most ostensible symbolisms in the looseness pertain to the existentialist philosophical framework. The first summon alludes to the acute existential crisis shadowing the period after the Second World War. Written as it was in the aftermath of the most devastati ng war in history, Becketts preoccupations with the purpose of human life and how best to go about fulfilling it are in tune with the concerns and sentiments of the time. In this, the play is full of symbolisms of existence and its opposite state death - a pattern found in the works of other post-war intellectuals such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Waiting for Godot is a product of the authors affectations during the war and hence contains in it psychological and philosophical questions treated in the existentialist framework. It is for this reason that notions such as death, nothingness and momentary crises of human existence are all symbolically expressed. The play goat also be read with theological symbolisms in mind, especially that of the Christian doctrine. The choice of the pick out Godot (that contains God in it) is perceived by critics to have religious connotations. This claim is vindicated by dialogues in the play that resonate with Christian concepts of salvati on, rising from the dead, etc. For example, We are saved, which is frequently uttered by Vladimir or Estragon can be taken as a reference to the notion of salvation. These two characters can also be seen as the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus Christ. Out of their boredom, every now and and then Estragon and Vladimir contemplate committing suicide by hanging themselves from the only prominent tree in the setting. This is over again a reference to the crucifixion, but albeit in a sense of parody. Vladimirs casual remark to Estragon in Act I, Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that? is again a parody of a Christian proverb of the selfsame(prenominal) rhyme - Hope deferred makes the heart sick but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Beckett, 1956) Hence, the religious symbolism is quite strong, but the tone is one of mockery and not reverence. Ontological questions are focused upon in the play, with the author giving special treatment to the concept of time, which links this work to another(prenominal) path-breaking existentialist thesis, namely that of Martin Heideggers Being and Time. For example, the deliberate similarity between the first and second acts in the play and elements of repetition seen in them is symbolic of the rhythmic and periodic nature of human existence, with each overtaking day a mirror of the day gone by and so forth. Because the play is essentially destitute of a describable plot and narrative, it operates at a very high level of abstraction. At this level, it lends itself to