Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and The Outsider Essay Example

suffocated; Lucky is choked by the rope restraining him and Jesus suffocates while he is crucified. The way in which Lucky stumbles repeatedly from carrying Pozzo's belongings also relates to the way Jesus fell while carrying the burden of the crucifix. In this aspect Pozzo laments Lucky's pathetic situation, as a representation of Christianity in general, by saying "I can't bear it... any longer... the way he goes on... you've no idea... it's terrible... he must go... ", countered by "He used to be so kind... so helpful... and entertaining... my good angel.. nd now he's killing me" (p. 22-23).

This represents the existence of a previous belief in Christianity, that provides no usefulness to the other characters in the play at this point. As the value of the sacrifice of Jesus has changed, Lucky's actions have declined as well: "He used to dance the farandole, the fling, the brawl, the jig, the fandango, the hornpipe. He capered. For joy. Now that's the best he can do" (p. 27). Lucky's large range of entertaining dances has now degraded to a single uneventful sequence of stiff, lifeless movements performed on the command of others.

Beckett subliminally presents the futility of Christianity as an institution by resembling the rather powerless character of Lucky to its most significant figure, Christ. In both The Outsider and Waiting for Godot, allusions regarding the Tree of Life are made. The Tree of Life was located in the Garden of Eden and its fruit was said to provide complete physical immortality. In Part II of The Outsider, Meursault first suffers great torment, "Yes, this was the time of day when, long ago, I used

to feel happy" (p. 93), as he finds himself unable to enjoy his daily pleasures of life, such as going for a swim, smoking cigarettes and having sex.

As his exposure to prison life increases, he begins to realize that he is able to cope with the conditions he finds himself in and understanding that death is inevitable, whether it comes relatively soon or in decades. The fact that he wouldn't mind living anywhere and particularly the fact that he mentions he wouldn't mind living in a tree trunk, which is in this context a symbol of stability and immortality indicates that he is comfortable with his new appreciation of life and will not mind what he is presented with.

Beckett, on the other hand, exploits the allusion of the tree present in Waiting for Godot to the tree of life, by adding a level of irony to it; the fact that it only has a handful of leaves in Act II and none at all in Act I counters the vision of what a vivid tree should be. Furthermore, Vladimir and Estragon find themselves in a position where they consider committing suicide by hanging themselves from the tree and are unable to because the branch won't hold; the Tree of Life is used by Beckett to portray the futile cycle that Vladimir and Estragon find themselves trapped in.

Celeste is a character in The Outsider that goes against the norms and values of society and supports Meursault during his trial, claiming that he is a good man and that misfortune led to his murder of the man known as the Arab. Considering Meursault as a Christ-like figure

in many aspects, Celeste could be considered a person that has faith in him; she believes in a concept that is completely absurd.

Meursault finds himself unable to believe in Christianity, although he does mention that he would like to be executed by the use of a chemical that only succeeds 90% of the time, "For instance, I imagined that they could find some chemical compund for the patient to take (I thought of him as the patient) which would kill him nine times out of ten", so as to have a chance of surviving; the hypocrisy involved with the chaplain, representing the Church as an institution, does not appeal Meursault in the least bit.

The fact that he stays true to his own ideals is the reason why he is executed; this parallels Christ's crucifixion, as they both die remaining true to what they believe. Both in The Outsider and in Waiting for Godot, probability is an important factor. At the start of Waiting for Godot, Vladimir says that "One of the thieves was saved. It's a reasonable percentage" (pg. 8), establishing the notion of percentages, which in turn relates to the way in which fate of humanity is determined.

The fact that in Act II Pozzo is "blind as Fortune"(pg. 55) takes into account the notion of chance and also establishes that Vladimir and Estragon are blind due to the fact that they are waiting for Godot to arrive because he apparently told them to wait in a specific area, where they remain throughout. The meaninglessness of a world that relies on probability degenerates human life in general into a worthless experience that can be modified

by "Fortune".

Even the Bible deals with the idea of chance, as one thief was saved as opposed to both and the one that was saved did not have any influence in the decision. What Beckett tries to communicate to the reader in this sense, is that Vladimir and Estragon having faith for Godot to arrive correlates to the absurd concept of believing in a God. Beckett and Camus use religious allusions to support ideas such as the world being determined by probability; they try to make their readers think about human existence in general and its meaning.

If human life was solely decided by chance, life would be greatly degraded. In this sense, Camus and Beckett are coercing readers to consider the presence of absurdity in their lives, because that is the way in which life gains any sort of meaning. Without religious allusions the message of a futile existence that Camus and Beckett portray is essentially lost because there is nothing to suggest a given meaning for life in general.