Significance Of Themes Essay, Research Paper

1. God

One of the main theme’s that is displayed throughout Waiting For Godot is the idea that life on earth is more or less a long and confusing wait for God. This theme magnifies the idea that the infamous Godot is actually God and that the play is built upon a structure of Christian morals.

With this in mind, it is easy to see how Beckett incorporates questions that are often raised by struggling Christians. One inquiry that is risen is simply, does God exist? Beckett displays this doubt through Vladimir and Estragon’s mixed attitude of hope and fear towards Godot. A second question that is risen is, how do we know the truth? In any religion there is always some doubt as to how truthful the religious doctrine actually is. Such is the case with Christianity. Beckett displays this doubt by having Vladimir and Estragon discuss the eternal fate of two thieves present at crucifixion of Christ. Vladimir describes that only one out the four priests present at the crucifixion claim that one of the thieves was saved, pointing out that the majority of the Christian followers took his word over the other three priests.

Ultimately this theme simply raises many questions of God and religion and casts a shadow of doubt upon the fundamentals of Christianity.

2. Hopelessness and Boredom

Boredom and Hopelessness is another theme that Beckett incorporates into Waiting for Godot. Since Waiting for Godot is an existentialist play, the boredom and hopelessness that Vladimir and Estragon display leads to self-reflection. Vladimir and Estragon display this human behavior many times throughout the play. At one point they discuss leaving each other stating, “It may be better if we part”, lowering each other’s self image. Soon after this occurs Estragon compares him self to Christ, raising his self-image. In the end, confusion is the result of all the reflection and no questions are answered. This indicates that Beckett is trying to indicate to the reader that often times the solution is not important, but rather the search for it.