Symbolism in Waiting For Godot - Essay Example

Although Godot does not arrive during the course of the play, his anticipation sets up the context for the musings and conversations of Estragon and Vladimir. Author Samuel Beckett creatively exploits this open ended plot structure to ponder over important questions about the human condition. Given that it was published in the aftermath of the Holocaust, it asks deep and compelling questions of the state 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 are saved!

”, etc offer profound interpretive scope for the reflective reader. (Beckett, 1956) The most ostensible symbolisms in the play pertain to the existentialist philosophical framework. The first quote alludes to the acute existential crisis shadowing the period after the Second World War. Written as it was in the aftermath of the most devastating war in history, Beckett's 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 author's 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 can also be read with theological symbolisms in mind, especially that of the Christian doctrine. The choice of the name 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 salvation, 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 then Estragon and Vladimir contemplate committing suicide by hanging themselves from the only prominent tree in the setting. This is again a reference to the crucifixion, but albeit in a sense of parody. Vladimir's 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 same 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 path-breaking existentialist thesis, namely that of Martin Heidegger’s 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 passing day a mirror of the day gone by and so forth. Because the play is essentially devoid of a describable plot and narrative, it operates at a very high level of abstraction.

At this level, it lends itself to