EVEN THE RELATIONSHIPS IN "WAITING FOR GODOT" ARE ABSURD. DO YOU AGREE?

Q:      DISCUSS  POZZO-LUCKY  RELATIONSHIP   IN RELATION TO THE THEME

OF "WAITING FOR GODOT".

Q:     EVEN  THE  RELATIONSHIPS   IN  "WAITING FOR GODOT" ARE ABSURD.

DO YOU AGREE?

Ans:

Shaped as they are, by the same culture, the characters in "Waiting for Godot" share a number of common features. Each is split by the same contradiction. On the one hand, he knows himself chiefly as a separate isolated individual, which on the other hand; each is driven to form some kind of relationship with other by need, greed and sometimes by compassion.

A solitary existence is a material impossibility but relationships can be of different kinds. Pozzo and Lucky, master and slave, are joined artificially (because they do not like each other) and by force with their rope, while the partnership of Vladimir and Estragon, though not a voluntary one, seems to be based on genuine natural need and relative equality.

All the relationships between characters are, to different degrees, based on the exploitation and abuse that Beckett observed in a Europe occupied (based on tyranny) by Hitler, an Ireland occupied by Britain and the churches and the similar relationship we find in the Pozzo — Lucky pair where there is no co-operation Lucky is the paid entertainer who does all the work, while Pozzo takes all the credit.

In the play Pozzo appears like a brazen idol—massive, smooth and rigid walking ahead of Lucky, at far end of a long rope, where he is beaten. Although in stark contrast to each other, yet Pozzo and Lucky have one thing in common, they are both driven by a desperate attempt to evade panic, which would grip them if they lose their belief in what Pozzo stands for.

Lucky deserves his name because he has a master who, however, cruelly organizes his life for him. Once we are told, Lucky could by dancing and thinking amuse and inspire Pozzo, but his state of slavery has gradually put an end to all that. His thinking has deteriorated into the endless repletion of meaningless and reminiscent of the "word- salad" of schizophrenic.

The relationship between Pozzo and Lucky is reflected in the physical bond that holds them together — the link of the rope. Pozzo treats Lucky worse than an animal. He invariably refers to him as pig and hog. He attracts his attention by putting the rope violently, which surrounds Lucky's neck. The tramps notice that the rope has eaten a running ulcer into Lucky's flesh. Lucky is made to carry all sorts of baggage. Yet he does not resist or complain. According to Pozzo, Lucky keeps on holding the luggage all the time because he does not want to leave the Pozzo's service, he hopes his zeal might favourably impress his master. However, Pozzo is determined to get rid of the slave. He announces in Act-1, that he is taking Lucky to a fair where he hopes to sell him for a good price. Lucky is vicious to strangers. He kicks Estragon painfully when the latter approaches him, in Act-1, to wipe away his tears. This is the only occasion when Lucky displays human feelings. Pozzo has remarked that creatures like Lucky ought to be exterminated; hearing these words Lucky begins to cry.

Everything about Pozzo resembles our image of the ringmaster of circus and Lucky as a trained or performing animal. Like a ringmaster, Pozzo arrives brandishing a whip, which is the trademark of the professional. In fact, we hear the cracking of Pozzo's whip before we actually see him.

In the Act-II, we see this relationship in an entirely different pose. Pozzo of Act-I is vain and egotistical. He behaves with tramps as well as with Lucky like a lord. While in

Act-II Pozzo is blind and helpless. He needs Lucky to show him the way and is now dependent on him. Little wonder, therefore, that we no longer hear him talk of disposing of his slave. He can no longer command. Rather than driving Lucky as he did earlier, he is now pathetically dragged along by Lucky. From a position of omnipotence and strength and confidence, he has fallen and has become the complete fallen man who maintains that time is irrelevant and that man's existence is meaningless.

In Pozzo, Beckett displays the operation of authority. He shows how power is won and kept, and at the same time, he demonstrates the viciousness and violence of rulers. Pozzo is powerful because he assumes power and because he knows how to wheedle others into his drama, whether by force or flattery. He wants servants and an audience to satisfy his every move, walking standing or sitting to make his figure into the "natural" centre of landscape.

Lucky, the bottom of the packing order in this drama must take much of blame for making the muck- heap on which they all now live. White haired, shaky legged sick, confused of speech in Act-I and dumb in Act-II, his role is to support Pozzo and all that belong to him. His very existence in the drama is a parody of human existence. In Act-II when he arrives completely dumb, it is only a fitting extension of his condition in Act-I, where his speech was virtually incomprehensible. Now he makes no attempt to utter and sound at all. Whatever part of man Lucky represents, we can make the general observation that, he as man is reduced to leading the blind, not by intellect, but by blind instinct.

Thus together they, Pozzo and Lucky, represent the antithesis of each other. Any number of Polarities could be used to apply to them. If Pozzo is the master, then Lucky is the slave. If Pozzo is it circus ringmaster, then Lucky is the performing, trained animal. If Pozzo is the sadist, Lucky is masochist, or Pozzo can be seen as the Ego and Lucky asid.