Make up your mind and move on...

Waiting for Godot (play, book)
Writer: Samuel Beckett

Thanks to MEV for the suggestion; for helping me in my journey to crack open my hard shell of ignorance. 

Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett fall into the same category of philosophers-writers who lived through World War 2-ravaged France to build a very nihilistic view of life's purpose. Samuel Beckett, an Irishman, who spent a good portion of his life in France, can be credited to have started the 'theatre of absurdism' and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969 for his books and drama.

The life that is laid in front of us is apparently meaningless. In this tragi-comic play, we are shown as headless chickens running, not knowing what to do and not knowing what is expected of us. We are so fickle, always losing track of our purpose and get swooned over easily by events around us. We eagerly await instructions from people in authority without an iota of a clue about the right thing to do. But we wait and follow like sheep, correctly or otherwise.

The play narrates a conversation between two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, who await mysterious Godot's arrival. It seems that Godot is very elusive, does not keep to his word and has no qualms keeping his men waiting. Vladimir and Estragon, in their endless wait, have to do things to pass the time. They encounter Pozzo, a rich man, and his slave, Lucky, who traverse their path. They realise that their miserable lives are much better than that of the slave, but still, they are unhappy. They keep on waiting for Godot hoping to get instructions from him.

That is life as we know it. We are clueless about why we are here, why we are alive, what is our mission. We create stories trying to justify our existence. We are not convinced and need validation from someone, anyone. We grope in the dark, making along. This aimless journey is so long and arduous.  

Like Sisyphus, we are cursed to be doing the same repetitive unending chore. The boulder pushed with so much exertion, and determination just rolls down just as it hits the pinnacle. His job is repeated and repeated yet again. Sisyphus can just call it a day and call it quits. Sisyphus knows he is destined to do throughout his life. He has to find happiness and purpose in life within that miserable ordeal. Life is tough, but he has to find joy and fulfilment within that wretched circumstances. 

Looking at this paradigm, we can distract ourselves into doing things that take our mind off of what happens at the end of it all. The indulgence in primal pleasures, intoxicants, flesh and music remain possible options. One desirable alternative could be the dissipation in art forms. It numbs the pain but at the same time, open up the mind to gaze at our lives from different perspectives. We can be leaders and serve society or delve deep into science to uplift mankind. The bottom line is that this is our existence, we have to accept it and make sense of it all and make our own conclusion.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.