Essay on Theme of Death in Beckett's Endgame

Samuel Beckett's Endgame is an absurdist as it focuses mostly on the subject of a life without meaning. Death is the central theme around which the play revolves. The characters are mainly pre-occupied within the realm of death and view life as a journey devoid of any significance. They are portrayed as individuals uncertain of anything in life except death. No matter how these people play the game of life, the only outcome about which they are certain of is death. Nell, the only female character present dies in the course of the play. Her demise makes death the dominant theme in the play henceforth. The play comes out as a tacit exploration of how death can serve to redeem a person from the misery and suffering of living.

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The underlying theme of death is introduced from the very onset of the story. Beckett starts his play by stating, "Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must nearly be finished" (1). Clov's first line echoed at the very beginning of the play depicts the end of something important, possibly his suffering, or even his life. When Hamm fits in the conversations asking if there could be any misery loftier than his, Clov's words serve as an automatic indicator of the fact that they are both in a state of despair and long for an end to their misery even if it means death. Clov is obviously tired and bored with life. He says, "All lifelong the same questions, the same answers" (13). Obviously, Clov's sentiments are those of someone tired of and bored with life, one who longs for it all to end. Becket paints Clov as a servant who is tired of doing what he does and prays for an end of it all. His long life of service has led him to the conclusion that he is tired and should, therefore, seek for rest from all the bustles.

In Endgame, movement and stillness are yet another significant aspect of looming death based on the author's concept of being static in spite of being kinetic; and being kinetic in spite of being static. The characters cannot move, nor can they enjoy the only source of hope in their lives freely available natural light. All that they can do is avoid even consoling each other. The nature of their interaction is another tool of displaying the misery in which the four of them are embroiled. Clov and his compatriots cannot even get away from each other, while their miseries bind them so strongly together that even when one needs to leave he cannot. Death is thus presented as a place of solace. Cold, final, but ready to welcome them in its enthusiastic embrace, providing comfort from all that they wanted to get away from each other in as much as they try to get away from but are unable to. Death manages to soothe their agony, and offer them the reprieve.

Apart from using the static nature of the characters to signify eventuality of mortality, the play also portrays a desperate world, one with no hope and in which there is not even a single shred of hope. Beckett brings out the world that cannot be redeemed by any means known to people. Moreover, he makes maximum use of the four characters on a very tiny stage filled with dirt to communicate his intended message. In the world he has created, that even Hamm's parents are clinging to dustbins, unable to move or redeem their state of life. In their meager existence, there is utterly no piece of comfort to stir up even a shard of life. All that the four characters can do is repeat the same short lines filled with lamentations about why they stick together despite the fact that they try to get away from each other but they cannot. Fear holds them hostage since they feel like they have no better place than where they are. What should be a bother turns into a source of strength as the characters find comfort in their inability to depart from each other. Even as the play progresses, Hamm thinks of so many things. The most striking of these is the ending of time. After all, what could be the best explanation of death other than the ultimate end of one's time? When we die, our reigns draw to a close, and our live cease to exist. He says "Moments for nothing, now as always, time was never and time is over, reckoning closed and story ended" (83). This thought could be thought in vast ways but saying that "time was never" then he implies that he has lived all his life and no more makes sense, he speaks as someone who has seen his last day from ". time is over" "reckoning closed". His life is as if it never was and it matters not for all is gone, this is sentiments of someone who has known no happiness and has lived a life that never was, this depicts the kind of destitution the party encountered in his brutal life, a life that "is finished". A life that never mattered.

To Hamm and Clov, death seems to be the only way out of the desperate lives they are living, and the meaningless state of abject poverty they are subjected to. The following excerpt from page 114 says a lot about this:

HAMM: Have you not had abundant?

CLOV: Yes! (Pause.) Of what?

HAMM: Of this ... this ... thing.

CLOV: I always had. (Pause.) Not you?

HAMM (gloomily) Then there's no reason for it to change.

CLOV: It may end. (Pause.) All lifelong the same questions, the same answers.

Clearly, Clov is tired. He says he has had enough of it all and it may end. Hamm, who has grown comfortable in his mediocre existence, is so sure that any changes will be for the worst. He thus expresses contentment with the present life, no matter how miserable it is. To Hamm, it matters no more and calls it a "thing" as if it is useless and has no value. The idea of same questions and answers depict the actual nature of how disillusioned they are. Hamm goes on to say, "Nature has forgotten us" and Clov quickly hits back with "there is no more nature," that it is "in the vicinity" (114). What could be the best definition of such utterances other than individuals who have kissed death, after all "it is finished!!"

That said, it is also evident that Nell's death has an interesting depiction of the entire theme. It brings it out in a very stylish way for he is the only one able to be free from the complete misery. That which the writer was able to express in the very short lines filled with meaningless cliches, in a way this displays the boredom and pain the characters are experiencing. It's like that very sick individual in his death who tends to preserve all his last energy to very short lines to convey their final wish, the difference here is the cliches that amicably portray the boredom in their lives. When Nell is about to die, her last word is "desert," this is interesting because deserts are dry. Clov interprets this to mean that she should go to the desert, only to realize later on that he had not understood what Nell meant. Despite all this, there is some sense of feeling that it is only Nell who has been freed from the boredom and misery of living. Meanwhile, Hamm also goes to the extent of requesting Clov to end his life but Clov refuses, and he constantly tells Clov to leave, for he knows that eventually, death will be the only source of his peace and freedom from this life of misery.

Also, in an attempt to provide more insight on death as a central theme in the play, the writer portrays the relationship between Hamm and Clov as a mutual relationship in which Clov provides legs and eyesight to Hamm in exchange for food and shelter. Hence, if he leaves Hamm, he will not eat any food, and without someone to feed him, Hamm will die. This is a technique the writer has employed to bind the two characters to their fate, this binds their miseries, and no one seems to have the freedom to depart from it. The departure of one assures the mutual destruction of the other. The writer further employs physical disability to depict the extent of their miseries, that not only are these characters bored with life but also disabled, they all have different kinds of disabilities that again tie them together, Hamm doesn't have a good sight and is in a wheelchair, he also gets constant headaches. Nagg and Nell are disabled, and they can't see each other. Nagg is partially deaf, and Nell is unable to cry. Clov has stiff legs and is unable to sit down. Beckett has used this disability to amplify their state of poverty, inability to develop and subdue themselves from their miseries.

In conclusion, Samuel Beckett's Endgame is a tacit exploration of how death can serve to give a person release from their suffering. He brings out the world that cannot be redeemed by any means known to man by portraying the lives of four characters in a constant setting and an immobile state, not able to move and interact freely with their surroundings. The setting is a confinement of a room symbolically signifying the imprisonment of life. The repetitive use of the words like finished, zero and nothing by the characters portray their preoccupation with death. Nell's death hints the end of creation. Her death shows that when the source dries up no life is likely to blossom.

Work cited

Beckett, Samuel. Endgame: With a Revised Text. Ed. Stanley E. Gontarski. Grove Press, 1992.