Waiting For Godot: An Examination Of Existentialism

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Waiting For Godot:
An Examination of Existentialism


French writer Samuel Beckett wrote the tragicomedy, Waiting For Godot, in 1954. Beckett, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1965, has since become known as one of the most influential and brilliant existential writers of his time. In short existentialism focuses upon the concept of an individual’s freedom of choice rather than the idea that all beings and movements are controlled and pre-determined by a supreme force, such as God. This idea of an individual shaping his own destiny is a widely explored 20th century philosophy. Waiting For Godot captures existentialism in all its simplicity through effortless storytelling and the exploration of the act of waiting for the unknown.
Waiting for Godot centers around two characters, Vladmir and Estragon. There homeless men find themselves waiting for someone or something called Godot. It is to be assumed that they are waiting for a man named Godot, but the identity of whom they wait upon is never revealed. These two men, through a simple dialogue filled with wry humor, reveal that not only do they not know “whom” they are waiting for, but also don’t know when Godot is to arrive or whether he ever will. Their waiting is based purely upon personal choice, for as Vladmir tells Estragon, “He didn’t say he’d come for sure.” (Pg. 8). Neither man, although they wait by their own decision, is even clear of why they would even want to wait for Godot. When Estragon questions the reason behind waiting, Vladmir simply replies, “Oh… Nothing very definite.”(Pg 14).
The quest to prove ones own existence is a theme carried throughout the play. It is the process of waiting and the onset of boredom that drives humans to examine existence and the idea of omnipotence. Existentialist authors and philosophers have agreed that boredom that leads to an attempt to answer rhetorical questions, such as those involving p...