Absurdity in Beckett’s Endgame

Buckets Endgame explores an introduction in an era when the importance of being Is Incessantly challenged by mans newfound science of the universes absurdity and lack of observable message, Written In 1957, the context of the world at the time of this works creation sheds much insight on its themes. In a time of continuous social and technological change scientific observations began yielding a more accurate picture of causality for the world and its phenomena and the plan of god became ever less relevant. The recent world wars had left ruins in not only cities, but in the concepts driving the nature of man.With the Implicit last of deities and sets of traditional rules to govern mans behavior, humanity found Itself at a need to check a different purpose to Its existence. Enter existentialism A flavour in existence despite any discernible core, existence for its own sake heralding with it an implied freedom of choice in both perception and action. As with the thusly contempo rary world view, the characters in Buckets Endgame be left to survive in the wake of a crumbled world. Free to devise their own world view, the characters react by developing lifespan affirming routines mistreating that creation persists even In close.Destruction, It would seem does not eliminate an object or Idea, but only redefines its form, beginning its existence anew. Rather ironically, the play begins with Cool repeating the world finished. Consequently, this theme of beginnings and determinationings as interrelated, cyclical, mutually necessary, and conclusively futile comes to prevail over the course of the play. As with the classic case of the chicken and the egg, the cyclical pattern of creation and destruction is eternal In Its supposed nature.However, to the AOL of Inciting drama or motivation, a story moldiness begin with destruction a motif with which Endgame is rife. The very setting of the play Immediately evokes a sense of catastrophe and destruction. The life less bare national (Endgame, 50) is coupled with the nothing or zero (Endgame, 51) reported outback(a) by Cool to Imply at the decay of a once lively outside world while the imagery of the stage as a skull (with the two windows acting as eyes and the characters as the thoughts) denote the destruction within.During this unmentioned catastrophe, the characters saw the end f their entire world and way of life thus being forced to redefine their views and behaviors. The destruction of their past worlds leads the characters to abandon their old ideals and ways of life. The unauthentic He doesnt exist. exclaimed Ham when his prayer went unanswered showing that even god had died in the wake of Hams personal disaster. However, these new circumstances work to effectively force a new world for the characters to inhabit a world as senseless as the last.Whether It Is the story about the tailor, which coupled the end of a stoppage of walling he beginning of the world, Ham and Cloves killi ng the flea from which they believe humanity may have been reborn (Endgame, 591 or the numerous references to Christ, whose close (and subsequent rebirth) destructive and fictive motifs in Buckets Endgame are presented in tandem. Interestingly, the cyclical nature of life and conclusion renders itself generally nonsensical and pointless.Surely, if all is to end to be reborn anew then a personally crafted purpose will ultimately remain as to exemplify this notion of a circular existence, with legion(predicate) motifs of rebirth such as Cool always returning. In their awareness of death (their own destruction), Buckets characters foster eternally static routines that they hope will distract them from their imminent demise. They go through the This farce, day after day (Endgame, 54), as Nell puts it, because there is nothing else to do but delay the inevitable while they wait.To that end, Becket makes use of repetitive phrase to denote the futility and repetitiveness of the cyc lical nature of life. The play systematically notes upon and enunciates the characters minutest movements, and repeats their most casual interests from Hams insistence on remaining at the center of the board (Endgame, 57) to how many pauses Ham takes in his speech to how Nell repeats herself to Nag, as in the case of April afternoon (Endgame, 56) . Lets my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust. (Endgame, 66) says Cool, expressing a desire for order.Yet Cloves constant tidying seems to have no end in sight especially if he were to direct his efforts to the destruction outside. This tidy end of which Cool dreams would only yield disappointment as he would have no cleaning duty to occupy him and upon achieving it, his life would once more become meaningless. In such a way, Cloves vision provides meaning to his trudge, which would otherwise dissipate upon achieving his goal. This focus on repetitive actions that delay the inevitable prohibits the discernment of meaning from these same actions, since there is never a final culmination to assess.Still, even the one example of a final product, is by no means fulfilling. discover at the world and look at my TROUSERS. (Endgame, 56) Says the tailor in Knells story, as if to be microscopical the bounty of the world (tongue in cheek, of ours) in the face the quality of his pants. In this case, as in the case of the characters death delaying routine, no amount of postponement will have made the end result worthy. As such, the play essentially stresses a damned if you do, and damned if you dont scenario by showing how any action will eventually be absolved in futility.The theme of futility ties into the very sign metaphor for ends in beginnings As Cool mutters Finished, its finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished. Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, theres a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap. (Endgame, 50), he ef fectively moves when individual grains live up to the concept of a heap. From this perspective, the heap is an impossible notion, as any single grain is not in itself a heap, and a heap is Just an accumulation of single grains.This view resurfaces yet again, when Ham considers how individual moments make up a life (Endgame, 70). In this instance the analogy maintains that it is an impossible life, consisting not of a life that can be scrutinized as a goal achieved (or not), but of discrete moments that define it (before death terminates it indefinitely). Thus, any creation of meaning incurred during ones life, is presented as ultimately pointless and only leading to its own destruction with the passing of its believers.While Ham and Cool are in the endgame of their ancient lives, with death lurking around the corner, they are also stuck in a perpetual loop that never allows the to achieve closure. Ham claims he wants to be finished, but admits that he hesitates to do so (Endgame, 51). Were not beginning to To Mean something? , Ham wonders, only to be ridiculed by Cool in resolution him deeply aware of its lack of purpose. Since any ending is also a beginning, there is never any finality, and conclusive meaning is impossible.Besides, any meaning derived would be as shallow as the meaning left behind while only persisting as long as its belabored. The very expression of Hams question exemplifies this very struggle where he delays and repeats words as he attempts to finish the sentence only to have it become a meaningless gesture in the eyes of Cool. Cool, though aware of the worlds absurdity must still subscribe to routine. He adheres to the daily procedures of tending to Ham and thus makes it the purpose of his life.Just as death wont arrive to conclude their lives, neither Ham nor Cool can escape existence in catheters presence. Such is the case with Cloves frequent failed attempts to leave the room and Hams insistence on squashing the flea that might her ald with it the human race the characters appear to fear the destruction of their current realm of existence in favor of another(prenominal) for fear of the new world being worse still. It is consequently implied that the characters loathe the thought of reincarnation into this world particularly being personally resurrected after death only to face life again.Thus they make an effort to kill all potential propagators of meaningless life such as the procreators that they seek to kill (Endgame, 73), or the incident with the flea the flea But humanity might start from there all over again Catch him, for the love of God (Endgame, 59) screams Ham, in chase of the flea. In exploring the cyclical nature of destruction and creation, Endgame notes on the futility inherent to the outgrowth. The cyclical nature of destruction and creation is rendered meaningless by the very definition of its continuity.Seeing the meaning seep from their previous existence, the characters come to realism tha t any new purpose will be as unfailing and mortal as the last. In the process of finding purpose in an existence doomed to meaningless, the characters come to occupy their time with senseless repetition that they both despise, and require. In true existentialist fashion, they curb all actions pointless, but are unwilling to stop making them while they still can. This play goes to show that meaning is what you make of it, and that there are no winners at the end of this absurd game called life.