waiting for godot

1. Pozzo is the extreme iteration of Estragon, which is shown by
their characteristics of impulsiveness and an obsessionwith
physical things.
Estragon: Estragon’s character then is outlined by an unreliable
memory, certain irrationalities, whimsical dialogue, and an
impulsiveness
Estragon’s psyche is ruled by physical feelings: Throughout the
play, Estragon is concerned with “taking off [his] boot” as it causes
him pain (3). His other characteristic is his relative lack of
thinking ability compared to Vladimir; thus, he “falls asleep”
rather than worry as Vladimir does.
Unreliability of memory: Concerned with sleep and eating, he
spends little effort to pass the time with interesting discussions
Irrationalities/Impulsiveness: Estragon’s character then is
outlined by an unreliable memory, certain irrationalities, whimsical
dialogue, and an impulsiveness which leads to the suggestion “[to
hang] themselves” in the hopes of getting an erection (12).
Whimsical dialogue: When Estragon is prompted by Vladimir to
“remember the Gospels,” his response results in a wishful
comment that “[the Dead Sea] is where [Vladimir and Estragon]
will go for their honeymoon” (5). His wishful comments are
emphasized by his poetic metaphorical reflections of their plight,
shouting “Abel! Abel!” and “Cain! Cain!” in Act II, having fallen
down, a biblical allusion (95).
Pozzo: Pozzo’s character takes on an extreme, overly exaggerated
version of Estragon’s impulsive nature.
Extreme impulsiveness/irrationalities: Pozzo “presents himself”
in a somewhat condescending manner upon his first meeting with
Vladimir and Estragon. He asks “with a terrifying voice” whether
his name means “anything to [Vladimir and Estragon]” and “jerks
[the rope]” connected to Lucky “violently” (19, 18). Pozzo’s
already preposterous entrance as a self-proclaimed important
figure is heightened with his “great coat,” “pipe,” and “pocket
watch,” and Lucky as his slave, possessions suggestive of wealth
and power (18).

2. Unreliability of memory: Out of the unreliability of his own
memory and intellect, Pozzo needs to establish his significance and
justify his importance by a forced, impulsive arrogance. as
signified by when he cannot remember in Act II his previous
interaction with Vladimir and Estragon, asking in the dark whether
“[Vladimir and Estragon] are friends of his” (96).
The same way Pozzo is a foil to Estragon, Lucky is a foil to
Vladimir as shown through their characteristics of …
Rational intellectual/polar opposite of Estragon: Throughout
the play, Vladimir is stricken with mental anguish: he “takes off
his hat” and “peers inside it” as if to find a resolve for his restless
nature (4). His search for some “[dislodged] foreign body” is often
accompanied by his exaggerated ability to think and philosophize
by “[using] his intelligence” (4, 14). It is logical, then, that
Vladimir brings up most topics of discussion between himself and
Estragon in order to engage in a temporary interesting measure to
pass the time. At other times, Vladimir philosophizes—even if to
no avail—against “wasting [their] time in idle discourse” in an
abstract style of aphorisms and obscurities (90).
As the polar opposite to the arrogant Pozzo, Lucky’s persona is an
extreme version of Vladimir’s which can be best seen in Lucky’s
stream-of-consciousness monologue. Prior to the monologue,
Lucky is a bit more than slave that carries Pozzo’s possessions.
However, when he is ordered by Pozzo to “think” and is given his
hat, the result is a drivel of abstract references and allusions—such
as a biblical allusion to “a personal God…with white beard” which
serves as a reference to Godot who also has a white beard (45).
Awareness of cycle:
Paragraph transition/topic sentence: The relationship and
state of dominance between the two character pairs is
symbolized with the use of the rope throughout the play such
that it if taken as single entities, the pair of Vladimir and
Estragon are metaphorically connected to Pozzo and Lucky
who represent the extreme endpoints of this rope. The back
and forth dialogue suggests that Vladimir and Estragon are
indeed one entity: duality: the duality/dichotomy of the

3. characters… duality means relationship between the two
characters and the dichotomy of two different character types
Vladimir and Estragon are between two extremes as
symbolized by the rope, such that there is an unstable balance
in their relationship
The dominance of Vladimir over Estragon is out-of-place,
though the two are clearly dependent on each other (just as the
dominance of Pozzo over Lucky is out of place, as Pozzo needs to
keep establishing his significance as the man in position of power):
Vladimir’s obsession to want to “adjust Lucky’s hat on his head”
signifies his discomfort with his character as the more intellectual
and dominant (81). Thus, he wants to take on Lucky’s role,
suggesting to Estragon to “play at Pozzo and Lucky” with Estragon
as Pozzo (82).
Lucky is a guide and the extreme version of Vladimir at whom
Vladimir looks, such as during Lucky’s monologue of repressed
subconsciousness in order to relieve himself of his mental anguish,
since Lucky is lucky to be domineered and ordered around, not
having to suffer the pain and distress (of the human condition)
(since Lucky is too dependent to suffer pain and distress)
The nature of Vladimir and Estragon’s relationship is partly
masochistic, as they want to “hang themselves” in the hopes that
suicide will “give [them an erection]”; thus, they are relieved by
death’s virtue in an autoerotic fantasy of pleasure and pain, which
also functions as a way to pass time (12).
Vladimir’s hat problem and Estragon’s boot problem, then, is some
self-inflicted subconscious torment in their plight to understand
their condition and make some value of their subjective existence.
As for Lucky and Pozzo, the rope is a manifestation of the state
of dominance and dependence in their relationship
The rope, when Pozzo first meets Vladimir and Estragon, is
long enough to allow “[Lucky] to reach the middle of the stage”
before Pozzo appears (18). With the passage of time, as Pozzo and
Lucky’s condition seems to disintegrate, Pozzo becomes “blind”
and Lucky becomes “dumb” (97, 102). The rope is “much
shorter,” short enough so that Lucky may lead Pozzo, thus

4. symbolizing the extent of their dependence on each other (87).
This also illustrates the tragic situation: Lucky willingly provides
services to Pozzo even though Pozzo treats him as a slave. This
suggests an extension of what was Vladimir and Estragon’s
masochistic relationship. Lucky could in theory run away and
leave Pozzo; however, either because he does not realize or he
does not want to, Lucky continues to accompany Pozzo as “[they]
go on” to the slave auction (102). Because Lucky does not need to
go with Pozzo and because he does not need to keep up an
appearance as Pozzo does, Lucky is, in a sense, the dominant of
the two by virtue of aiding Pozzo, even though on the surface, it
appears that Pozzo is the more knowledgeable and dominant.
However, Pozzo attests that Lucky in some time past before
deteriorating or achieving realisation “taught [Pozzo] all these
beautiful things,” such as how to sound intelligent and make
judgment on the weather and on how the “population has
increased;” all significant of rote memorization and regurgitation
(irony…) (32). With Lucky, the problem is his ambiguity on this
rope: he is the epitome of paradoxical juxtaposition: the
oppressed subconsciousness that exists both as the absurd hero and
as the “pig.” Nevertheless, Pozzo and Lucky are a potential
outcome of the relationship between Vladimir and Estragon, the
only fundamental difference being that the role of the dominant
persona of Vladimir over Estragon is out of place, whereas with
Lucky and Pozzo, the dominant persona is more defined, even if
confusing (that doesn’t make sense and seems contradictory to
argument…redo or eliminate).
As another device to show the relationship between the
character pairs, time represents both the cyclical nature of the
play and the state of the characters at various points (wordy?
Redundant? Awk? Bs? All of them probably…meh, tired).
Vladimir and Estragon have been together for some 40 years,
while Pozzo and Lucky have been together for some 60 years.
From this length of time, it is assumed that the character pairs
might have seen better times, and that part of their dependence on
each other is as a result of spending long periods of time with each
other. At some point, however, the shift happened, turning
Vladimir into Lucky and Estragon forcibly to Pozzo. Vladimir

5. finds that their relationship is “beginning to weaken” (87). His
tendency to philosophize and think also increases as the play nears
its ending, more and more in the stream of consciousness style of
Lucky’s monologue, perhaps suggestive that he is achieving
realisation of being in a cycle when he completes the Boy’s words.
Other points:
Although on the surface and physically it appears that
Pozzo is the more knowledgeable and dominant in the relationship
between Pozzo and Lucky, Lucky in some past time before
deteriorating “taught [Pozzo] all these beautiful things” such as
how to sound intelligent and make judgement values on the
weather and on how the “population has increased,” all significant
of rote memorization and regurgitation.
One of the prime functions of Lucky and Pozzo as a foil to
Vladimir and Estragon is to give insight as to one of the prime
themes of the play: the absurdity of man’s existence in the face of
the chaotic human condition, awaiting some outside factor—
Godot, whether he be death, God, or change—to provide salvation
when the mind—the subconscious where the answers lie—is
denied admission by an oppressive physical manifestation. In
Lucky and Pozzo, Lucky—the subconscious—is seemingly
content but silenced. In Vladimir and Estragon, a conclusion to
Vladimir’s realisation is left undetermined with a repetitive scene,
suggestive of the cyclical nature of the play, that they decide to go
and leave the road, but “they do not move”(109). Thus, the
resolution is that Vladimir become Lucky and Estragon become
Pozzo or that they keep “waiting for Godot” whether because they
cannot understand fully their state of being or because they do not
see change necessary.
Section on Godot: “ a personal God…with a white beard,” a
reference to Godot who also has a white beard: suggests self-
introspection? Could represent the wholeness—the union of
opposites, the equilibrium relationship— that the character pairs
want/are trying to achieve. (could use as intro paragraph, link it to
Pozzo and Lucky as future version of Vladimir and Estragon)