Think, Lucky, think!
Lucky’s fantastic tirade in his “think speech” centres about the central paradox of the suffering of man, in spite of a (assumed) personal God. The paradox Lucky outlines questions the necessity of suffering given the a priori that God loves man. Logic follows that if a personal God should love his creation to such an extent as to “[suffer] like the divine Miranda” (45) then the extension of his love should absolve man from unnecessary suffering.
The premise of unnecessary suffering is augmented in the play through the very context upon which it is discussed. Lucky’s rant also highlights that such suffering is not only unnecessary, but meaningless. Recurrent in his speech contains elements of uncertainty, as he appears to contemplate the “reasons unknown” in an impartial science-like voice of reason. What follows in the spiel of meaningless suffering is the issue of man’s many “labours”, and how they are equally devoid of meaning once cast under the light of his logic. Lucky’s equalising factor is that of death, the one event that renders all acts of men equal, and to a certain extent, suggests that all suffering and meaningful labour is meaningless since they befall the same end.
The silencing metaphor of death appears in numerous sections, referred as the destination of which “time will tell” as well as an extensive utilisation of the “skull” imagery towards the tail end of his speech, both figuratively and literally. Lucky approaches the subject with trepidation: the appearance of the skull motif drives his speech into a halting mess, and it plays back over and over like a broken record, as if the very presence of the thought of death affects the life of Lucky’s thought. Themes of labour left “unfinished”, “tennis”, “stones” and the “skull” are resurface randomly in his last frantic verbal assault, peppered with frantic cries of “alas, alas”, as though the subject matter of his discourse had become too much to bear even for the messenger.
Lucky’s speech arguably further draws Estragon and Vladimir’s condition into further adversity by invoking the fundamental paradox of existence and life’s meaning. The routines Estragon and Vladimir conjure are vague parallels to Lucky’s posited “tennis” themes and man’s utilisation of rules and games to create personal meaning that defers attention from his existential crisis. Perhaps little illusions as ends-in-themselves offer refuge from the shadow of nihilism. Humour is their only solace from the drastic circumstances Lucky speaks of: waiting for Godot becomes an excuse that is excusable because it offers hope that deflects both protagonists from the meaningless nature of both their sufferings, and as a way of deflecting the use of the tree to acquire a way out of the paradox through hanging.
The premise of unnecessary suffering is augmented in the play through the very context upon which it is discussed. Lucky’s rant also highlights that such suffering is not only unnecessary, but meaningless. Recurrent in his speech contains elements of uncertainty, as he appears to contemplate the “reasons unknown” in an impartial science-like voice of reason. What follows in the spiel of meaningless suffering is the issue of man’s many “labours”, and how they are equally devoid of meaning once cast under the light of his logic. Lucky’s equalising factor is that of death, the one event that renders all acts of men equal, and to a certain extent, suggests that all suffering and meaningful labour is meaningless since they befall the same end.
The silencing metaphor of death appears in numerous sections, referred as the destination of which “time will tell” as well as an extensive utilisation of the “skull” imagery towards the tail end of his speech, both figuratively and literally. Lucky approaches the subject with trepidation: the appearance of the skull motif drives his speech into a halting mess, and it plays back over and over like a broken record, as if the very presence of the thought of death affects the life of Lucky’s thought. Themes of labour left “unfinished”, “tennis”, “stones” and the “skull” are resurface randomly in his last frantic verbal assault, peppered with frantic cries of “alas, alas”, as though the subject matter of his discourse had become too much to bear even for the messenger.
Lucky’s speech arguably further draws Estragon and Vladimir’s condition into further adversity by invoking the fundamental paradox of existence and life’s meaning. The routines Estragon and Vladimir conjure are vague parallels to Lucky’s posited “tennis” themes and man’s utilisation of rules and games to create personal meaning that defers attention from his existential crisis. Perhaps little illusions as ends-in-themselves offer refuge from the shadow of nihilism. Humour is their only solace from the drastic circumstances Lucky speaks of: waiting for Godot becomes an excuse that is excusable because it offers hope that deflects both protagonists from the meaningless nature of both their sufferings, and as a way of deflecting the use of the tree to acquire a way out of the paradox through hanging.
posted by HT, with T for Teh at 10:43 AM
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