Blog Prompt #4 Endgame

Blog Prompt #4 Endgame

Wan-Ting Lin

The Significance of Endgame in 21^st Century

Written by Samuel Beckett, Endgame is a play talked about the helplessness and the loneliness which are deeply inside human’s heart. In the dictionary, the word “endgame” means “the stage of a chess game after major reduction of forces.” The metaphor of the chess game is quite interesting. The author uses this imagery of chess game in order to describe the relationship between Clov and Hamm. They couldn’t leave each other just as the chess game needs exactly two people to continue playing, but they also hated each other as if they were the enemies in the game. This contradiction between the reliance and the hate did reveal the helplessness to contemporary audience. The absurdity of this play is the main point of why we still read this play in 21^st century. Only when we clearly look through the truth of this modern society can we understand the loneliness throughout the world.

At first, the play is set in a “zero” world. In line 490, Clov took the telescope and tried to look at the scene outside the place. When he was using the telescope, he kept saying “Zero…zero…zero…” as if the world were actually nothing inside. This “zero” imagery indicated that there is nothing at all either inside or outside the place. There is actually no “pain-killer” and “sugar-plum,” showing the lack of source inside the house. This “zero” also expressed the vacancy inside those characters’ hearts. Nagg and Nell, the old couple who are Hamm’s parents, lived in their memories. The current situation is actually nothing to them. They kept talking about “yesterday” and the old story and memory as if they were living in the past. In line 230, the old couple talked about yesterday:

Nell: why this farce, day after day?

(Pause)

Nagg: I’ve lost my tooth.

Nell: When?

Nagg: I had it yesterday.

Nell: (Elegiac) Ah yesterday.

(They turn painfully towards each other.)

 This conversation expressed the sorrowful emotion inside the couple’s hearts. The helplessness between the lines did make me feel heavy and somehow melancholy. It revealed the powerless of the older generation, showing that there’s nothing they can do because of the weakness of their bodies and minds. They maybe are willing to change the situation which they encountered at this time, but the reality made them surrender. This old couple reminds me of the older generation in my society. Those elderly was once the strongest and most influential people in the country. But because of the “time” which aged them, now what they can do is to accept the reality that they need to let their power go, passing the authority to the next generation.

Also, the pace of this play is quite slow. There are many pauses between lines, making the conversation tediously long and boring. Besides, the characters repeated the routine again and again, showing the insignificance of the duplicate actions. The conversation between Clov and Hamm is actually full of short sentences, composing of questions and yes/ no answers. Hamm intentionally commanded Clov to do lots of repeated works, continuing questioning him to make sure Clov is still inside the house. Hamm relied on Clov very much, but he was extremely mean to Clov at the same time. In line 1235, Hamm indicated that Clov will be dead if he leaves Hamm:

Hamm: Gone from me you’d be dead.

Clov: And vice versa.

Hamm: Outside of here it’s death!

(Pause)

     And the rat?

Clov: He’s got away.

Hamm: He can’t go far.

This conversation between Clov and Hamm did show their habits of relying on each other. They felt like they can’t live without each other so that they didn’t have the courage and chance to change the current situation. Clov kept saying that he is going to leave, but he never did it. In the end of the play, he finally decided to leave the house:

(Enter CLOV, dressed for the road. Panama hat, tweed coat, raincoat over his arm, umbrella, bag. He halts by the door and stands there, impassive and motionless, his eyes fixed on HAMM, till the end.)

 Clov was ready to leave, but did he really leave? That is a big question for all the audience to think about. Is it easy to change the current situation we live in the 21^st century whether it is good or bad? Sometimes people are just relied on some power, thinking that they need the “trade” or the “political authority” to have a better life. They dare not to change no matter how bad the reality is. They prefer live in a terrible situation rather than have the courage to change it. This absurdity is actually a very severe difficulty we need to face now. As an audience of this play, I felt like I need to think about what I can really do to change the helplessness of this world. This play indeed awakes to the audience a sense of the duty to this society.