Father/Son Boundaries Blurred

When first reading Endgame, I couldn’t help comparing Hamm and Clov to the slapstick duo, thing one and thing two, from Waiting for Godot. My opinion changed immediately when we watched the theatrical version of Endgame in class. Gogo and Didi are friends, but Hamm and Clov are like a father and a son. Hamm and Clov are close yet fight often. Hamm is insulting while Clov is subservient. On two occasions does Hamm need to apologize to the man he has raised as a son, and he (un)surprisingly apologizes in a parallel manner (Beckett’s fault: I have come to believe he adores repetition).

The first instance necessitates an apology because Hamm has lost the love of Clov.

HAMM: I’ve made you suffer too much. [Pause.] Haven’t I? CLOV: It’s not that. HAMM: [shocked] I haven’t made you suffer too much? CLOV: Yes! HAMM: [relieved] Ah you gave me a fright. [Pause. Coldly.] Forgive me. [Pause. Louder.] I said, Forgive me. CLOV: I heard you (94).

Hamm punishes Clov too severely; much like a father overprotects his son and severs him from the rest of the world. Hamm appears to be attempting to build character in Clov by making him suffer. This aspect of their relationship also points to one of parent-child.

Overprotective father who literally snarls at danger.

The second instance necessitates an apology because Hamm ridicules Clov for his extracurricular activity of staring at a wall.

HAMM: Your light dying! Listen to that! Well, it can die just as well here, your light. Take a look at me and then come back and tell me what you think of your light. [Pause.] CLOV: You shouldn’t speak to me like that. [Pause.] HAMM: [coldly] Forgive me. [Pause. Louder.] I said, Forgive me. CLOV: I heard you (98).

Hamm always seems to have a larger complaint than anyone else, including poor Clov; but this instance of ridicule only reminded me of parents saying, “back in my day we…” Hamm criticizes Clov because he is older and Clov allows his incessant nagging (which is strange to me because Hamm’s father is named Nagg).

Also, in each instance of apologetic interaction, Clov never forgives Hamm; he only acknowledges that Hamm apologized. To me, the short response, “I heard you,” represents the inner feelings of an angsty teenager. Clov may not be Hamm’s biological son, and Hamm may not have raised Clov extraordinarily, but they are tied together in a bond that can only be described as a father and a son.

 

Thing 1 and Thing 2

In class, we discussed how Waiting for Godot arguably concerns alienation, but I believe that Gogo and Didi are just too intertwined to be alienated. They constantly play off each other’s own words in a form that seems to be unbelievably slapstick. In my opinion, they even sometimes appear to be the same character, and I mix them up throughout the entire play.

For example, on the first couple pages of the tragicomedy Gogo and Didi share the same phrases.

ESTRAGON: [feebly] Help me! VLADIMIR: It hurts? ESTRAGON: [angrily] Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts! VLADIMIR: [angrily] No one ever suffers but you. I don’t count. I’d like to hear what you’d say if you had what I have. ESTRAGON: It hurts? VLADIMIR: [angrily] Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts! (4)

Nothing to be done, eh? It hurts, eh?

Their comedy appears to be slapstick as they fire the same lines quickly at one another. They also seem very sarcastic and vague, which adds to the comedy because of the phrase repetition. Gogo and Didi also share the same emotion. They present their lines “[angrily]” at one another, and their anger remains similar throughout the lines because they are indeed the same lines.

This instance of anger is not the only instance as Gogo and Didi build off each other’s phrases and emotions in Act II.

VLADIMIR & ESTRAGON: [turning simultaneously] Do you – VLADIMIR: Oh pardon! ESTRAGON: Carry on. VLADIMIR: No no, after you. ESTRAGON: No no, you first. VLADIMIR: I interrupted you. ESTRAGON: On the contrary. [They glare at each other angrily.] VLADIMIR: Ceremonious ape! ESTRAGON: Punctilious pig! VLADIMIR: Finish your phrase, I tell you! ESTRAGON: Finish your own! (65)

I typed "punctilious pig" into google images and this showed up. This man literally has his head up his ass. Great insult! Bravo! Jolly good show!

Here Gogo and Didi speak “…angrily]” at one another. In this instance, they try to be out of sync but in fact remain in sync because of the structure of their phrases. For example, with their insults, they each name an adjective then a noun: “Ceremonious ape!” and “Punctilious pig!” This “shift” of sync only occurrs because they were so in sync in the first place. They both spoke the same phrase at the beginning, “Do you.” They even perform the same movement, “[turning simultaneously].” They want each other to finish the phrase they both started in order to fire more of the same lines at one another: “Finish your phrase, I tell you!” and “Finish your own!”

Estragon and Vladimir must be twins or some freak of nature, because I know I certainly cannot tell them apart.