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.