Reflections Of An Era Essay, Research Paper

Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot in the late 1940’s, in Paris, France. As a man who lived through the horrors of WWII Beckett often questioned the meaning of existence and the possibility of a God. These two ideas were sown into his paly Waiting for Godot.

Living through the war and seeing men killing men forced Beckett to raise questions of morality. Beckett displayed these thoughts by portraying men as animals, such as Lucky in Waiting for Godot, and then continuing by exhibiting his disgust for men stooping to the likes of animals, which can be seen when Vladimir scorns Pozo for treating Lucky in such a horrid way.

In addition, Beckett was also troubled by his society. In 1937 Beckett was stabbed by a man on the street. He had a hard time healing the emotional wounds and he almost became obsessed with finding the assailant’s motive. Beckett even visited him in prison to hear his side of the story, but much like Vladimir and Estragon his questions were never answered.

In all, waiting for Godot is much a reflection of the mid 20th century, or rather Samuel Beckett’s interpretation of the society in which he lived.