The Silence of Waiting: Pauses, Absence and The Failure of Communication in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot

Abstract

One of the most renowned themes in post-war literature is the use of absurdist themes and deconstructive methods. After the Second World War, scepticism regarding traditional institutions of meaning and belief became widespread. The works of Samuel Beckett correspond to this very idea. His works depict a world in which conventional structures of meaning become unstable and uncertain. Waiting for Godot is probably one of the most celebrated works authored by Samuel Beckett. The entire play is structured on the idea of waiting for a mysterious figure named Godot. Interestingly, Beckett never reveals anything about him. The present paper analyses this theme of waiting and comments on the use of silences and pauses in the play. It is an attempt to explore the use of absence by analysing the element of mystery that surrounds the identity of Godot and his failure to arrive, while also shedding light on the inability of language to express one truly.