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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Pozzo's Blindness:
Overnight, between the first and second acts, Pozzo somehow becomes blind. Pozzo's blindness becomes a motif in the second act, as the characters use allusions and similes to meditate on his lost eyesight. Through the motif, Beckett explores the challenges caused by taking people's statements at face value as well as the discomfort of living life without witnesses.
Immediately after appearing on stage, Pozzo falls on the ground. He calls out for help as Vladimir and Estragon discuss who he is and whether to help him. While he held quite a bit of power, especially over Lucky, in the first act, he's now completely helpless. Beckett produces an absurd situation as Vladimir and Estragon discuss the pros and cons of helping him rather than doing anything to help him. This can be read as a critique of world leaders in the 20th century, who spent a lot of time deliberating on how to respond to wars and other catastrophes—which often delayed their assistance to people who were suffering. Pozzo's pleas for help are urgent and frequent, but Vladimir and Estragon reveal a comical—as well as concerning—ability to drown them out. They only do something to help him after they've also fallen. Holding him up, they answer his questions about their surroundings. Just as they have to take his claims of blindness at face value, he has no choice but to accept their claims about what they see as fact.
Both Estragon and Pozzo are interested in the role of blindness in ancient mythology. After Pozzo declares that he's blind, Estragon muses that "Perhaps he can see into the future." This is an allusion to the Greek mythological figure Tiresias, a blind seer. Not long after, Pozzo alludes to another mythological figure in a simile: "I woke up one fine day as blind as Fortune." The Roman goddess Fortuna—known as Tyche in Greek mythology—is typically depicted with a blindfold over her eyes. By comparing himself to the goddess, he seems to attempt to reinstate his former authority.
Vladimir becomes fixated on Pozzo's blindness because it reveals just how forgetful everyone around him is. When Vladimir asks Pozzo whether he recognizes them, Pozzo simply responds "I am blind." Not only is he incapable of recognizing them visually, he doesn't remember them at all. This makes Vladimir increasingly uneasy, as the other characters' memory loss and blindness mean that he has no witnesses to confirm his experiences with. While Estragon doesn't remember meeting Pozzo the day before, Vladimir remembers meeting him and wants to know how he became blind from one day to another. After Pozzo and Lucky exit the stage, he says, "I wonder is he really blind." Estragon seems already to have forgotten and responds "Blind? Who?"
When the young boy later enters, Vladimir violently begs him to confirm that he saw them.
VLADIMIR: Tell him . . . (he hesitates) . . . tell him you saw me and that . . . (he hesitates) . . . that you saw me. (Pause. Vladimir advances, the Boy recoils. Vladimir halts, the Boy halts. With sudden violence.) You’re sure you saw me, you won’t come and tell me to-morrow that you never saw me!
Vladimir's "sudden violence" seems informed by the frightening experience of having been forgotten by Pozzo. In fact, Vladimir made the same request—albeit with less intensity—when the boy came the day before, at the end of the first act. His repetition of yesterday's plea reveals the comfort he takes in being seen—and his desperation for witnesses to his life.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Night Is Drawing Nigh:
Throughout the play, the characters repeatedly comment on the light conditions and deliberate over the time of day. At one point, Vladimir describes nightfall with an allusion to a hymn. The motif of night largely takes on a positive connotation in the play. As the characters seem stuck in endless loops of waiting, the falling darkness becomes a way for them to confirm that time is passing.
The characters' conversations about night give insight into their unique perception of their surroundings. In the first act, Vladimir addresses night with a longing, impatient tone. On two occasions, he looks at the sky and asks "Will night never come?" Soon after, Pozzo describes night in more figurative, performative terms: "night is charging (vibrantly) and will burst upon us (snaps his fingers) pop! like that!" And at the beginning of the second act, Estragon and Vladimir discover that they have differing views of nightfall.
VLADIMIR: It’s always at nightfall.
ESTRAGON: But night doesn’t fall.
VLADIMIR: It’ll fall all of a sudden, like yesterday.
ESTRAGON: Then it’ll be night.
VLADIMIR: And we can go.
ESTRAGON: Then it’ll be day again.
Vladimir experiences night as something that falls, while Estragon indicates that he sees it differently. However, he never elaborates on this, so it never becomes clear whether their difference of opinion is semantic or more metaphysical. When night finally does arrive, it's worth noting that the stage directions do not indicate it through a falling motion, but rather as the moon rising and mounting in the sky. Perhaps Vladimir understands night as the descending of the darkness, while Estragon understands it as the rising of the moon.
Regardless of their differing view of night's movement, Vladimir and Estragon do have the same view of time's cyclical nature. In addition, they agree that the arrival of night means that they "can go." For Vladimir and Estragon, night offers a moment of reprieve from their endless waiting. Beckett already makes this explicit during their first conversation with Pozzo, in the first act. When Vladimir looks at the sky and asks whether night will come, Pozzo immediately connects nightfall, waiting, and Godot by saying that he would "wait till it was black night before [he] gave up." Vladimir confirms this in the second act, when he says that "in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come—[...] Or for night to fall."
In the second act, the blind Pozzo requires assistance from Vladimir and Estragon to determine the time of day. This once again uncovers a difference of opinion between Vladimir and Estragon. While Estragon claims that the sun is rising and hypothesizes that it's dawn, Vladimir says "Impossible." After much deliberation, Vladimir delivers a verbose speech certifying that it's evening. In this speech, he alludes to a hymn from the 19th century:
VLADIMIR: (reassuring). It’s evening, Sir, it's evening, night is drawing nigh. My friend here would have me doubt it and I must confess he shook me for a moment. But it is not for nothing I have lived through this long day and I can assure you it is very near the end of its repertory.
The line "night is drawing nigh" comes from a hymn called "Now the day is over." This allusion adds to the play's religious undertones and reinforces the night motif's positive connotation. Vladimir is relieved over his certainty that night has come because it means that he will soon have a break from waiting. He also sees nightfall as proof that time is passing, which gives him great relief.
Related Themes:
