paper no 107 The Twentieth century literature : from world war 2 to end of the century

1. PREPARED BY :MAYURI PANDYA
PAPER NO.107 THETWENTIETH CENTURY
LITERATURE :FROMWORLDWAR 2TOTHE
END OFTHE CENTURY
TOPIC : REVIEW ON RANJAN GOSHARTICLE ‘WAITING FOR GODOT’

2. INTRODUCTION OF AUTHOR
“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No
matter.Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
- Samuel Beckett.
 BORN: 13 APRIL 1906
 DIED: 22 DECEMBER 1989
 Samuel Beckett was born in a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. He
worked as a teacher of French atTrinity College, Dublin, and
École Normale Supèrieure in Paris, where he also settled
permanently in 1938. In his writing he alternated between
English and French and translated his own work

3.  The concept of 'waiting' in Godot is here brought into line with several
paradigms from Indian philosophical thought.The relation of Godot with
Vladimir and Estragon (the authentic reflexivity's within the contingent
situation, the values and ethics of the situational whole) are explored
and possible new lines of inquiry are opened. Drawing on the complex
philosophical tradition of Karma, Dharma, and the Indian value-system,
this article relocates these issues in the very 'act' of waiting.The 'waiting'
is, then, interpreted as being less absurd, less nihilistic, and more
positive and authentic. Indeed, this article seeks to reorient our
approach towards the 'waiting' for Go dot.

Circumscribing Beckett's Waiting for Godot and the philosophy of
'waiting' within several intriguing parameters of Hindu philosophy can
be a challenging and a celebratory experience, not just because it
unearths new interpretive spaces, but also for the critical temerity that
this venture entails, given Beckett's unendorsed association with Indian
philosophical systems.

ARTICLE BY RANJAN GOSHON INDIAN
PHILOSOPHY INWAITING FOR GODOT

4.  In the light of Hindu philosophy, the Godot-denied world of
the play can be categorized by pramada, alasya (passivity) and
nidra (torpor) as mentioned in the Gita (XIV.8). It is a drugged
state reeking with the 'incomprehensibility' (read, here, more
of the Buddhist sense of the term) of the 'real' a near
misguided obstinacy. So the initial feeling for the situation in
the play speaks of the tamasic state which is born of
ignorance: it deludes. From a tamasic state,
(apratishtham,lacking usual foundation and reciprocity,
aparasparasambhutam) we find at a certain stage in the
drama, a clearer conative perception in a rajasic state that is,
however, void of the unity of existence.

5.  the Karmic potentialities in 'waiting' need to be carefully
considered. 'Waiting' promotes struggle and action
reaches outward and inward at the same time. Hindu
philosophy would choose to believe that more than
being an outward manifestation it should be a soul-
opening inwardization (do notVladimir and Estragon
realize the need for fellow feeling, sentiment and moral
reflexivity in their interaction with Pozzo and Lucky?), a
subjective pathos, that bludgeons through avidya to
reach the state of liberation which I would qualify as the
yukta-biyukta dasa (the bonded-liberated state). I would
prefer to look at Godot as the 'true self and waiting as an
act of 'desiring'. Meeting Godot would be realizing Godot
which is the ideal of atmaprapti or atmalabha. For me
there is inherently a substantial integration to the Godot-
being (yukta).Vladimir

6. Vladimir and Estragon cannot go for they have to wait for
Godot; they cannot hang themselves because Godot could be
arriving anytime; their indecisiveness is not existential enigma
but the yukta-biyukta dasa which is integral to the Godot-
being within the Indian concept of values.That they cannot
hang themselves does not point to any pointlessness of
stigmatized existence but to an underlying prospect of a
'becoming‘ where values wait to be sublated through the
intervention of karma and jnana (the biyukta dasa).Within the
existential milieu of the whole act of 'waiting',

7. OTHER ARTICLE
 This paper talks about the symbolic significance of Godot and the
different stages of the lives ofVladimir and Estragon. It explores the
various aspects of time and the circle of karma in the context of the
Hindu concept of Karmayoga, Sankhya philosophy and Kalchakra.
According to Sankhya philosophy, nature is composed of three forces
called, in Sanskrit, Sattva, Rajas, andTamas.These as manifested in the
physical world are what we may call equilibrium, activity, and inertness.
Tamas is typified as darkness or inactivity; Rajas is activity, expressed as
attraction or repulsion; and Sattva is the equilibrium of the two. Initially
the play reflects the tamsic state, which is the result of ignorance. Next,
Vladimir and Estragon become active after getting the message about
the arrival of God, which reflects the rajsic state.The realization of the
motive of their ultimate existence reflects Satwa.The fundamental
existential base ofVladimir and Estragon is Kaal and Karma.Vladimir
and Estragon know that waiting is a temporary engagement but
somehow their waiting continues without culmination. (Religious
mythology inWaiting for Godot Karmayoga and Kalchakra)


8.  Brady rises to the challenge of writing about one of dramas most iconic
plays by situating the Blinks seasoned experimentalism firmly in its
French context, and showing how Dada, Surrealism and the avant-garde
influenced Beckett vision. His description of Hall’s callow hit-and-miss
production is wonderfully detailed, and he brings out the contrast
between European traditions and the more makeshift British
attitudes.(Bradby, David. “Introduction : An Overview ofWaiting for
Godot.”Waiting for Godot)

The play gives an insight into the universality of the human condition,
and does so without preaching or pretending to have the “answer”. No
doubt, any of these themes could be found anywhere at any time. One
of the most important themes is the theme of a savior which is a
designation belongs to God or to Jesus Christ in the Christian world and
Al-Muntadher or the redeemer in the Islamic world, as the savior for
those, who have been waiting for many centuries. So the idea of a savior
or redeemer is present in the two major religions and it maintains its
universality as people believe that the savior could determinate their
suffering, while his doing nothing might be a cynical reflection
concerning man’s forlorn state.(Universality in waiting for Godot)


9. WORK CITED
 Ghosh, Ranjan. “Reconfiguring theWaiting for Godot: Explorations within Some
Paradigms of Hindu Philosophy.” Samuel BeckettToday / Aujourd'hui, vol. 14,
no. 1, 2004, pp. 307–321., https://doi.org/10.1163/18757405-014001023.

Bradby, David. “Introduction : An Overview ofWaiting for Godot.”Waiting for
Godot , 2001, https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472543301.0006.Accessed 2001.

Oudah, Khalid. J. “20. Linguistic Stability in a Language Space.” Universality of
Waiting for Godot, vol. 4, Mar. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110220278.355.

Vaidya, Priyanka. “Religious Mythology in ‘Waiting for Godot.’” Karmyoga and
Kalchakra in Backett'sWaiting for Godot Exploration in Hindu Mythology,
https://doi.org/10.31185/lark.vol2.iss25.1084.
 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1969/beckett/facts