Discontinuity of Time in "Waiting for Godot"

"Waiting for Godot" at the 2008 Berkshire Theater Festival

In late March, it was becoming clear to us Chicago Bulls fans that Derrick Rose's return from injury was no simple or straightforward thing. On March 23rd and 24th, I wrote notes that were to become a lengthy article - Waiting for Derrick Rose - as it dawned on me that this matter was existential and farcical in nature, worthy of Samuel Beckett.  

I transcribe some of those notes here, as they relate more specifically to the play "Waiting for Godot" and its emblematic portrayal of Western life:

• The discontinuity of time
• The absence and uncertainty of memory
• The routinization and meaninglessness of life
• Waiting becomes a set of tedious dialogue and caricatured activity

Transcript of "Waiting for Godot" (Act 1 and Act 2)

The Past

The continuity of time in Waiting for Godot is broken. Vladimir and Estragon are not sure, for a moment, whether they were there yesterday; and they entertained the possibility that Godot came and they missed him.

The next day, Estragon forgets where he had put his boots.

The boy comes back the next day, but insists that he wasn’t there yesterday, and again says that Godot will come tomorrow.

The Present

Nothing happens. The existential fear of nothingness, meaninglessness, and routinization. For some, this can feel like an inescapable trap.

Life happens. For better or for worse. For comedy and drama. There is conversation, there is friendship, there are encounters, there are news.

The Future

Waiting, in Western Culture, is a fact of life, and it almost seems like an intolerable experience. “We want things yesterday” and “God give me patience, and give it to me now.”

Future is endowed with saviors, and those figures lose their human semblance. Guess what?  Godot does nothing, too. Moreover, he beats certain boys apparently.