i
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ARMANDO SORIANO Student Number: 034214123
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ARMANDO SORIANO Student Number: 034214123
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2009
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assistance of some people, who with their kindness, have been generous enough to be
involved during the process of writing this thesis.
In this opportunity, I must thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum.,my advisor, for his patience in guiding me writing this thesis, and for the suggestions that are really
valuable. I thank Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd.,M.Hum. ,my co-advisor, for the consultation, and Dr. Harry Susanto, S.J. for providing me the discussion and a lot of second opinions.
I thank God for His blessing and guidance. My sincere gratitude goes to my
family, Bapa, Mama, IyOo, and the big family of Soriano and Laikopan, for the endless praying and support. I also thank my colleagues in KKN-XXXII- Kelompok 21 for the friendship, my companions in Media Sastra Community, and Sastra Mungil for the
process, discussion, and help. I thank the buddies, Anton “ktx”, Vino Alberto, Nicodemus and Jonathan Martumpal for the different but inspirational perspective. A special thank goes to Guruh ‘Iyan-ahong’ and Fr. Evencio, OFM for providing me those rare books and also to all compatriots in those melanesian students communities for the solidarity.
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ACCEPTANCE PAGE……….. iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN……….. iv
MOTTO PAGE ………. v
DEDICATION PAGE ………. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….. vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… viii
ABSTRACT ………. ix
ABSTRAK ……….. x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……….... 1
A. Background of the Study ………... 1
B. Problem Formulation ……… 4
C. Objectives of the Study ……….. 4
D. Definition of Terms ……… 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………... 6
A. Review of Related Studies……… 6
B. Review of Related Theories………. 17
C. Theoretical Framework………. 24
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………. 26
A. Object of the Study ……… 26
B. Approach of the Study ………. 27
C. Method of the Study ……… 27
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……….. 30
A. Characterization of Characters inEndgame…….………... 31
B. The Idea of Absurdity Reflected in the Characterization of Characters in Endgame…………... 48
1. The Routine ……… 49
2. Meaningless Condition ……….. 53
3. The End ………... 57
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………. 61
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Departement of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.
Endgame is a play with the theme of a criticism on human’s existence. The author, Samuel Beckett, is known as a dramatist who brings a new atmosphere to the field of theatre. The characters can be analyzed in their characterization to find a condition that criticizes the existence of human. The criticism can be seen in the idea of absurdity about human life that is reflected on the characters. The analysis on the characterization of the characters and its reflection of the idea of absurdity is the main goal to discuss in this study.
This study firstly tries to find out the characterization of the Clov, Hamm, Nagg, and Nell and the way it reflected the idea of absurdity.
The play is containing a criticism or moreover can be said as an idea which is aimed to a reader. For this reason the writer choose to apply moral-philosophical approach in the study. The writer used the method of library research in collecting data and several processes that can be classified as reading data, analyzing data, and drawing conclusion.
Absurdity is philosophical idea raised by Albert Camus. It is a study that explores the reality of human life. One of the conclusions on this idea is that absurdity is the ultimate truth. Absurdity, according to Camus, cannot be explored thoroughly. It can only be identified by using the scheme of the explanation of idea of absurdity. The characters in the play trough their actions, speeches, and thinking, reflect some themes. These themes are the routine, meaningless condition, and the end. These themes, based on the Camus’ philosophy of absurdity, can be categorized as the reflection of the idea of absurdity. The criticism on the human existence that is raised by the author through the play can be seen by using the scope of Camus’ idea of absurdity as the characterization of characters shows the reflection of the idea of absurdity.
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Departement of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.
Endgame adalah naskah drama dengan tema mengenai kritik atas keberadaan manusia. Penulisnya Samuel Beckett, dikenal sebagai dramawan yang membawa nuansa baru dalam dunia teater. Tokoh-tokoh dalam drama ini dapat dianalisa berdasarkan penokohan mereka untuk menemukan kondisi yang mengkritik keberadaan manusia. Kritik ini dapat dilihat pada ide mengenai absurditas kehidupan manusia yang terefleksi oleh tokoh- tokoh dalam drama ini. Analisa mengenai penokohan tokoh Clov, Hamm, Nagg, dan Nell dan cara penokohan tersebut merefleksikan ide absurditas merupakan tujuan utama untuk dibahas di dalam studi ini.
Studi ini pertama-tama akan mencoba memaparkan penokohan dari Clov,Hamm,Nagg dan Nell dan cara penokohan tersebut merefleksikan ide absurditas.
Drama ini berisikan kritik yang dapat dikatakan sebagai ide yang diarahkan kepada pembaca. Berdasarkan alasan ini penulis memilih untuk menerapkan pendekatan moral-filosofis di dalam studi ini. Penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka dalam mengumpulkan data dan beberapa proses yang dapat dijabarkan seperti membaca data, menganalisa data, dan menarik kesimpulan.
1 A. Background of the Study
The routine of human life has been an object of analysis and discussion by many of the existentialism thinkers or philosophers. One among others is Albert
Camus who uses this routine as an element in his work. Another person, Samuel Beckett, who is known more as a dramatist, also has used the theme of the routine
of human life. He stated that habit and routine were the "cancer of time” (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1969/press.html, accessed on October 11th, 2007). This theme can be said as a point where the discussion of
the absurdity can be started.
In Endgame,the habit or the routine that the character has can be said as one of the themes of the play. The use of this theme can be seen in the way the character elaborated it in the play. In Beckett’s another work, Waiting for Godot, the theme is about the act of waiting that became the main routine of the
characters.Waiting for Godotgoes by showing the way the characters interact one with another in their endless act of waiting. These characters find the fact that they
are in such condition where they are unable to run away from. This condition is formed in the shape of the daily routine which is seemed like a trap for them.
anything in his life and the world. He faced the reality that nothing can be
explained from life and the world.
But what is absurd is the confrontation of the irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose calls echoes in the human heart. The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. (Camus,1955:16).
The moment of absurdity appears when man realized about his condition of being. It is the time when he is aware about his existence. This awareness
raised a basic question about man’s existence. This awareness also leads mean to a feeling of alienation between him and the world. Camus describes this situation by using the example of people with their routine.
Rising, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm-this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the "why" arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement. In another words, absurdity arises from moments when all the acts of life that flow mechanically stop, and when consciousness starts to wake up and move (Camus, 1955:15).
Martin Esslin in The Theatre of the Absurd, a book that introduced the term of The Theater of The Absurd in the field of theatre, analyzed Beckett and
his work using the theme of The Search for The Self. Endgame is discussed in many aspects, such as the symbolism, the relation to other works of Beckett, and also the bibliographical aspect of the author. Beckett, as said inThe Theater of the Absurd, is influenced by James Joyce, the writer who is a friend and literary master of Beckett.
As we can see in many of Beckett’s work, Endgameis full with the tone of pessimistic, and the pathetic of life. Characters appear in their physical boundary and their inability to reach the reason or the meaning of their lives. Everything seems nothing. It will be like what Beckett said that “nothing is more real than
nothing” (http://samuel-beckett.net/godot_greg html, accessed on October 11th, 2007).
Endgame also shows Beckett’s contemplation about the contradiction between man’s personality and the world outside. The setting of the play is an inside part the room of a house that said as the building for the last human beings
on earth. There is little description about the outside part of the room. Hamm, one of the characters, always said that outside the room is “a death” (Beckett,
1986:96). The only thing that seemed clear for the characters is the death, the natural end of their life that exactly will happen. Esslin showed this as the symbol of the personality of man and the power outside him.
In Endgame we are also certainly confronted with a very powerful expression of the sense of deadness, of leaden heaviness and hopelessness, that is the experienced in the states of deep depression: the world outside goes for the victim of such states, but inside his mind there is ceaseless argument between parts of his personality that have become autonomous entities (Esslin, 1969:48).
The characterization of characters in Endgame leads to Camus ‘idea of absurdity. Their failure to communicate with each other and the condition and all
the contradiction that appear between them and the world are the points that will guide the study to find a reflection of the idea of absurdity. This thesis will analyze the characterization of the four characters, Clov, Hamm, Nagg, and Nell
B. Problems Formulation
In the relation with the explanation above, the writer raises two problems formulation that will be discussed further in the thesis.
1. How are Clov, Hamm, Nagg, and Nell characterized in Samuel Beckett’s
Endgame?
2. How does the characterization of characters in Endgame reflect the idea of absurdity?
C. Objectives of the Study
Concerning the problems formulation that have been stated previously, the objectives of the study are represented as follows.
The first objective is to find out how Clov, Hamm, Nagg, and Nell are characterized inEndgame.
The second objective is to identify how characterization of characters in
Endgamereflects the idea of absurdity.
D. Definition of Term
As stated in the title and explored in the above explanation, the writer define the key concept of this study namely absurdity. In this Thesis the writer applied Albert Camus’ concept of the idea of absurdity for the discussion.
1. Absurdity
The term of absurdity is defined into two major meanings. Firstly, one
New Oxford American Dictionary Second Edition (2005), absurdity is the quality
or state of being ridiculous or wildly unreasonable.
Another meaning of absurdity is rather specific to a philosophical term. According to Albert Camus, absurdity can be said as the feeling, or situation
which is born of a confrontation between the human need of meaning and the unreasonable silence of the world. In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus said as follows.
6 A. Review of Related Studies
In the English Department of Sanata Dharma University, the studies on absurdity had been conducted before. One of them is an undergraduate thesis by Dicky Christanto entitled “Humanity, Absurdity, and Atheism Found in Albert Camus’ The Plague in Relation with Karl Marx’ Criticism Toward Religion”. This thesis analyzed the relation of Camus’ theory with Marx’ criticsm toward religion. The analysis was aimed to find the answer for the philosophical explanation of the main character believe on the atheism, the implication of the main character atheism understanding toward the other character in the story in relation to their atheism, the similarity and the difference of the atheism and it’s application showed by the main character and the message from discussion over the discourse of atheism on the story (Christanto, 1998:6).
The other study is F.X. Lilik Dwi Mardjianto’s “The Significance of the Characterization of the Minor characters to the Elaboration of the Theme in Albert Camus’ The Stranger”. This study tries to find the characterization of the minor character and then explores the significance of the characterization as the antithesis of absurdity to the development of the theme of the story (Mardjianto, 2005:6).
Beckett and his works asThe search for the self. The analysis on Beckett’s works in this book was done in numbers of aspects.
In The Theatre of the Absurd, Esslin said about the earlier works of Samuel Beckett. One example of the works is Beckett’s poem Whoroscopewhich presenting the philoshoper Descartes’ meditation. Another Beckett’s works is his study on Proust, the French novelist, essayist, and critic. In this study, the theme of Beckett’s later works can be seen such as his disbelief in communication. This theme is inspired by Proust whose idea is that the art is the apotheosis of solitude. On the communication, Proust said that there is no communication because there are no vehicles of communication (Esslin, 1969:13).
On the characters ofEndgame, Esslin has done numbers of analysis in his book that the writer will not state it entirely in here. The points that will be reviewed are those that have been considered as having a significant issue to the analysis. In his book, Esslin pointed out that Endgame can be seen as a monodrama. This is a psychological view on the play. Endgame is seen as a structure of a psychological part of a man. Esslin said that in the play the character of Clov is performing the function of the senses for his senile master Hamm. This idea is about the representation of different aspects of single personality.
Hamm, Blind and emotional; Clov, performing the function of the senses for him- all these might well represent different aspects of a single personality, repressed memories in the subconscious mind, the emotional and the intellectual selves (Esslin,1969 : 44).
Another psychological view on characters in Beckett’s work, in The
Beckett’s drama are all often been noticed for their peculiar psychological reality.
The characters from Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon, have been seen as so complementary that they might be the two halves of a single
personality, the conscious and the subconscious mind. Each of these three pairs
Pozzo-Lucky, Vladimir-Estragon, Hamm-Clov is linked by a relationship of
mutual independence, wanting to leave each other, at war with each other, and yet
dependent on each other. It is also an image of the interrelatedness of the elements
within a single personality, particularly if the personality is in conflict with itself
(Esslin, 1969:45).
Esslin’s study also said about Beckett’s using the idea of disbelief on communication. It is said as an original experience of Beckett himself which is more profound and fundamental nature than mere autobiography.Endgameis said as a revelation of Beckett’s experience of temporarily and evanescence; his sense of the difficulty of communication between human beings (Esslin, 1969:48). Beckett is said as a writer who success in depicting the inner side of a person. His creative intuition explores the elements of experience and shows to what extent all human beings carry the seeds of such depression and disintegration within the deeper layers of their personality (Esslin, 1969:48).
Esslin also reviewed the atmosphere that Beckett used in writing his
works. Esslin said that inEndgamewe are confronted with a great expression of
pathetic and pessimism of life. The indications for this expression are the sense of
situation between an argument in man’s mind and the depression condition
surround him.
InEndgamewe are also certainly confronted with a very powerful expression of the sense of deadness, of leaden heaviness and hopelessness, that is experienced in states of deep depression: the world outside goes dead for the victim of such states, but inside his mind there is ceaseless argument between part of his personality that have become autonomous entities (Esslin, 1969:48).
On the other hand, Esslin also criticized Endgame. He said thatEndgame is lacking of characters and plot. Characters in Endgame, Hamm and Clov, Nagg and Nell, are not characters but the embodiments of basic human attitudes. He stated that these characters are rather like the personified virtues and vices in medieval mystery plays or Spanish autos sacramentales (Esslin, 1969:53). Moreover, Esslin made a conclusion on the feature that he thought as the main factor of success of Beckett’s Plays.
This is also the key to the wide success of Beckett’s plays: to be confronted with concrete projections of the deepest fears and anxieties, which have been only vaguely experienced at a half-concious level, constitutes a process of catharsis and liberation analogous to the therapeutic effect in psychoanalysis of confronting the subconscious content of mind (Esslin, 1969:48).
The most dominated analysis in The Theatre of the Absurd is about the biography of Beckett and his exploration about the elusiveness of human personality in his works. The theme, the search for the self, is deeply explored in Esslin’s study on Beckett’s work. As we can see in his opinion in Beckett’s other play, Krapp’s last Tape, Esslin said that Beckett has found graphic expression for the problem of the human ever-changing identity (Esslin, 1969:55).
proust. In Krapp’s Last Tape, the self at one moment in time is confronted with its earlier incarnation only to find it utterly strange (Esslin,1969:56).
Another study on Beckett is Alan Astro’s Understanding Samuel Beckett. This book provides an analysis on Beckett’s works such as his early writings, major novels, and major theatrical works. The analysis on the character can be seen in several parts. Astro analyzed on Beckett’s drama in a complex way. The analysis is dominated with Astro’s opinion on the way Beckett used the theme of pessimism and the chaotic atmosphere in most of his play.
In his analysis on Endgame, Astro focused on the relation between two major characters in it, Hamm and Clov. Their physical description is the object that Astro used for his analysis. The relation between Hamm and Clov is said as the pseudocouple in the way they are complementing each other.
Later we learn he is Hamm, Clov’s blind and paralyzed master. He cannot stand, and Clov cannot sit. They complement each other’s infirmities, as befits a pseudocouple (Astro, 1990:132).
The catastrophe that is used as the setting ofEndgameis one of the objects of Astro’s analysis. The setting of Endgame is described as a painful place. A great holocaust has happened in the world. This condition has affected the characters. They live a sorrowful life. Astro gives a philosophical opinion about Hamm. He said that Hamm’s need of pain-killer can be interpreted as his sickness of his existence.
Astro’s book provided opinion from other philosopher about the significant of holocaust setting that is used in Endgame. It posted the Theodore Adorno’s opinion about the using of symbols inEndgame.It is an argument about the significant of Ardens mountains that has been used as the setting for the place where Nagg and Nell, two of four characters in the play, having an accident and lost their legs.
Theodore Adorno, the social theoretician of the Frankfurt school, argues in an article on Endgame that the reference to the Ardennes Mountains is significant, for they were the site of one of the first modern mass destruction, the battlegrounds of World-War I (Astro, 1990:132).
The idea of denying the existence of God appears as one of objects that can be seen in the character. God, according to Astro’s analysis, is said as the nonexistent creator for characters inEndgame. This can be seen in the part where Astro discussed about they way Beckett use Antonin Artaud’s perception about the modern theatre.
Beckett follows the precepts of Antonin Artaud, who urged that modern theater leave realism behind and look toward classical Greek theater and its origin in ritual. Sacrifice is the most dramatic of rituals, and it is an important part of Endgame, where all humankind is offered up in an empty holocaust to a God of whom Hamm says “the bastard! He doesn’t exist”(Astro,1990:133).
The names of the four characters, Clov, Hamm, Nagg, and Nell, are analyzed in the relation of their position, and condition on the play and as a system of symbolism. These names said as having symbolical relation of the significant of one characters towards the others.
The study onEndgameinUnderstanding Samuel Beckettalso analyzed the concept of time that is used in Endgame. To reach this, Astro analyzed the way the character said about time. There is a significant relationship between the character and time. On the idea of time, which is a complex one, Astro drew a conclusion about the eternity of time as the time setting of the play.
Hamm then says that “time was never and time is over, reckoning closed and story ended”(E 83). That time should be both over and never have been is contradictory but not illogical; if time has ended, we are in a timeless dimension; therefore it is impossible for time to have existed before, for there could be no “before” (Astro, 1990:135).
InEndgame, Hamm has knowledge about a paradox of the end of time that leads him to doubt that anything can end. The characters will not reach the end since they will not feel or aware of it because they already end or death when the end appears. As Astro stated that death is something that, in a sense, never comes. Wait for it as we like, when it arrives we have died and cannot know it has arrived (Astro, 1990:135).
The idea of end that never arrives in Endgame is related to Sartre’s concept of existentialism. This opinion about an end in Endgame is only can be understood by using Sartre idea about being. This concept will help in understanding the idea that it is impossible to say that anything could reach finish in Endgame. It will be related to what professor Astro said as the “Non-dimensional world”.
It seems impossible for anything to finish in Endgame, for if all human life ceased, there would be nothingness, not and an “end”. In order that there be an end, a subjectivity is required to notice the ending; ends do not exist in themselves (Astro, 1990:137).
characters are characterized. Others focused on the fact that the play could be
analyzed on its use of symbolism, the way it criticizing something, the value of philosophical ideas in it, and its relation with Beckett’s life.
In the relation to the school of philosophical thoughtsEndgame is said as having a critique toward several philosophical and aesthetic movements.Endgame implies a critique of several philosophical and aesthetic movements: Naturalism,
Realism, Romanticism, Classicism, Enlightenment progress, Empiricism, and Rationalism (http://www.msb27@u.washington.edu .accessed on October, 2007).
Many studies on Beckett’s dramas are made by the comparison between
them. Beckett’s most known play, Waiting for Godot, is the one that is mostly used to be compared with others. As we can see in Wallace Fowlie’sDionysus in Paris, it said that Endgame is having much features than Waiting for Godot.The analysis about this features concern on the style of acting and performances that is used in Endgame ( http:// www.theatrehistory.com/irish/beckett/endgame. html. Accessed on October, 2007).
Beckett is said as a play writer that allows total freedom to directors, actors and critics, but then wishes to correct their interpretations. Worton in his essay said that, Beckett does not want his actors to act. He wants them to do only what he tells them. When they try to act, he becomes very angry. What is most interesting is that whenever he directed or was closely involved in the production of his plays, he focused on different aspects (http://web.archive.org/web/20010128075500/http://www.cyberuni.vu/wormi001. html. Accessed on October, 2007).
Worton in his review of Endgame is comparing the theme that is used in the play with the later works of Beckett’s novels. It cannot be denied, of course,
thatWaiting for GodotandEndgamepresent many of the themes already explored in the novels, all of which centre on the complex problem of how we can cope with being-in-time. There is the abiding concern with death and dying, but death
as anevent(i.e., actually becoming “a little heap of bones”) is presented as desired but ultimately impossible, whereas dying as a process is shown to be our only sure reality. Beckett's characters are haunted by “the sin of having been born”, a sin which they can never expiate. Pozzo remarks that, one day we were born, one
day we shall die, the same day, the same second
(http://web.archive.org/web/20010128075500/http://www.cyberuni.vu/wormi001. html. Accessed on October, 2007).
As we have already seen in Astro’s analysis on Beckett’s play, the concept
of time is one of the analyzed objects. Worton also put this as one of the topic in
continuity. In other words, time indubitably exists as a force of which the
characters are aware in that they become increasingly decrepit, but they have no
sense of its continuity. If each day is like all the others, how can they then know
that time is really passing and that an end is night. Waitng for Godotis grounded in the promise of an arrival that never occurs, and Endgame is the promise of a
departure that never happens. This would seem to imply that the characters look
forward to the future, yet if there is no past, there can be neither present nor
future. So in order to be able to project onto an unlocatable, and perhaps
non-existent future, the characters need to invent a past for themselves
(http://web.archive.org/web/20010128075500/http://www.cyberuni.vu/wormi001.
html. Accessed on October, 2007).
Samuel Beckett was known with his inspirable works that open a new
chapter in the world of Theatre. We can see this in an article onNew York Times which said about Beckett’s influence to the traditional character. It said that,
Beckett's great innovation in Waiting for Godotand Endgameis both to question the formal structure that playwrights of previous traditions have felt obliged to
respect, and to offer a mimesis or representation of reality that recognizes and inscribes the formlessness of existence without attempting to make it 'fit' any
model.” ''(http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/20046.html.
Accessed on October, 2007).
Beckett himself gives an opinion about the new form that he brings in the
What I am saying does not mean that there will henceforth be no form in art. It only means that there will be a new form, and that this form will be of such a type that it admits the chaos, and does not try to say that the chaos is really something else. The form and the chaos remain separate. The latter is not reduced to the former. That is why the form itself becomes a preoccupation, because it exists as a problem separate from the material it accommodates. To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist (http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/20046.html. Accessed on October, 2007).
Beckett’s work is mostly considered as a work which has an element of
bleakness. This consideration might comes from the use of pathetic, and
pessimism theme in his works. His name, in adjectival form, is used in English as
a synonym for bleakness.
Though his name in the adjectival form, Beckettian, entered the English language as a synonym for bleakness, he was a man of great humor and compassion, in his life as in his work. He was a tragicomic playwright whose
art was consistently instilled with mordant wit
(http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/20046.html. Accessed on October, 2007).
Beckett did not really concern with the public opinion on his work. There
was a rarely record on his activity of giving a public statement. He received Noble
Prize in 1969 but Beckett did not attend the ceremony. New York Times said that,
In 1969 Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for a body of work that
''has transformed the destitution of man into his exaltation.'' Karl Ragnar Gierow,
secretary of the Swedish Academy, said his writing ''rises like a Miserere from all
mankind, its muffled minor key sounding liberation to the oppressed and comfort
to those in need.'' He was on holiday in Morocco at the time of the Nobel
announcement and in characteristic fashion offered no public statement and
gave his prize money of $72,800 to needy artists.
(http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/20046.html. Accessed on
October, 2007).
The studies above deal with several objects of study in analyzing
Endgame. They explored the characters, the writing style of Beckett, the significant of theme and setting, and the philosophical values, from many
philosophical schools, in Endgame. This thesis’ focus is the particular
philosophical value that reflected in characters’s characterization of Endgame. The philosophical value that is analyzed in this thesis is the concept of absurdity
based on Albert Camus’ idea of absurdity. The main analysis is about the
characters’ characterization and how it reflects the idea of absurdity.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
According to A Glossary of Literary Terms, characters are persons presented in the dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as
being endowed with moral, dispositional and emotional qualities and that are
expressed in what the say -the dialog- and by what they do -the action-.
(Abrams,1981:20).
In order to understand about character and its development we must
concern about the character’s consistency as Abrams state inGlossary of Literary
Character may remain essentially ‘stable’, or unchanged in his outlook and his dispositions, from beginning to end of a work, or he may undergo a radical change, either through a gradual development or as a result of an extreme crisis. Whether a character remains stable or changes, the reader of a traditional, realistic work requires ‘consistency’- the character should not suddenly break off an act in a way not plausibly grounded in his temperament as we have already come to know it”(Abrams,1981:20).
According toA Handbook of Literary Terms, character is divided into two groups which are main and minor. Many writers present their main characters
with fullness of detail, while the minor appear somewhat lifeless. However this
conception of main and minor is not that significance since there is a tendency to
regard any human being who strays into the book as being worthy (Yelland,
1953:31).
On the characterization, Roger B. Henkle has drawn a scheme about the
position of character in novels to define a characterization. He said that
characterization is central to the fictional experiences and the principal objective
of the creation of the characters in novels is to enable us to understand and to
experience the people (Henkle, 1977:86).
On the author way of presenting information about the character, Edgar V.
Robert and Henry E. Jacob describe about the four ways.
1. What the characters themselves say (and think if the author expresses their thoughts).
the situation or total context of a statement and also whether show change or
development.
2. What the characters do
Readers should interpret action as sign of character. Often reader will find
that action is inconsistent with logic or expectation. Such behavior may signal naiveté, weakness, deceit, or scheming personality, they may also signalize strong
inner conflicts, and also change or growth. 3. What other characters said about them
In stories and in plays, as in life, people often talk about other people. If
the speakers are honest, reader may accept their opinion as accurate description of other characters. However, sometimes person’s prejudices and interests distort
what that person said. Therefore, an author may give a reader a good impression of characters by having a bad or negative character said a negative things about them.
4. What the author say about them, speaking as a storyteller or an observer. What the author, speaking with the authorial voice, says about character is
to be accepted as accurate. However, when the authorial voice interpret action and characteristic, the author himself or herself assume the role of a reader or a critic, and any opinions may be either right or wrong. For this reason, author frequently
avoid interpretations and devote their skill instead to arranging events and speeches so that only readers themselves draw conclusions (Robert and Jacob,
2. Theory of Absurdity
A century before Camus, the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote extensively on the absurdity of the world. In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus reviewed Kierkegaard’s writing about absurdity.
The man who writes: “The surest of stubborn silences is not to hold’s one tongue but to talk” makes sure in the beginning that no truth is absolute or can render satisfactory an existence that is impossible in itself. Don Juan of the understanding, he multiplies pseudonyms and contradiction, writes his Discourse of Edification at the same time as the manual of cynical spiritualism,The Diary of the Seducer. He refuses consolations, ethic, reliable principles ( Camus, 1955:19).
Entering the era after the Second World War people start to make a
reflection about them with the achievement of life that they have reached so far. People found the reality that what they have thought as modernism, and other
ideas, concepts or ideologies brought to them nothing but war and suffering. The most basic and oldest question remains unanswered. A question which asking about the reason of human existence.
Philosophy is one of the oldest schools of thinking that accompanies human being in the history of their lives. Philosophy has already walk through a
long way that take it into a long process of the dynamically development. One way of answering the old question about human existence is provided by the existentialist philosopher. Albert Camus in many of his work is using the theme of
the absurdity of human existence in the world. Camus can be said as an existentialist thinker, by concerning on his works, as the others existentialists like
Sartre. Camus and writers like Pascal, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche can be
classified as writers who were first of all philosophers or religious writers, but they have stylistic achievements and literary flair that give them a special place in the of world literature as well.
Jean-Paul Sartre, the founder of existentialism, state that the basic of existentialism is the totally freedom of man since there is no God who give an
essence for man’s existence. Existentialists believe that Existence is prior to Essence.
What is meant here by saying that existence precedes essence? It means that, first of all, the human individual exists, turns up, appears in the world, and, only afterwards, defines himself. If the human individual, as the existentialist thinks of him, is indefinable, it is because at first he isnothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be. Thus, there is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive of it. Not only is the human individual what he conceives himself to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be after this thrust toward existence (Kaufmann,1966:287).
The Myth of Sisyphus(1955) is one of Camus’ works that has been mostly used for the reference of his absurdity theory. This is a book with the essential or fundamental statement of Camus’ philosophy. It is in this book that Camus
formally introduces and fully articulates his most famous idea, the concept of the absurdity, and his well known essay about Sisyphus which is a symbol of human’s life struggle. On the opening Camus directly stated the main problem of the
discussion that there is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide (Camus,1955 :3).
He said that absurdity must not be evaded either by religion “philosophical
suicide” or by annihilation “physical suicide”; the task of living should not merely be accepted, it must be embraced. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy (Camus, 1955:91).
In order to understand absurdity, it is not as simply of finding references that we can see in the reality of life today such as paradoxes, incongruities, and
intellectual confusion. As Camus himself emphasizes and tries to make clear, the absurd expresses a fundamental disharmony, a tragic incompatibility, in our existence. In effect, he argues that the absurd is the product of a collision or
confrontation between our human desire for order, meaning, and purpose in life and the blank, indifferent “silence of the universe.” The absurd is not in man nor
in the world, but in their presence together. It is the only bond uniting them (Camus,1955:16).
We can make a conclusion that in Camus’ view there are three possible philosophical responses to this predicament. Two of these he condemns as evasions; the other he puts forward as a proper solution. Man first choice is blunt and simple: physical suicide. If we decide that a life without some essential purpose or meaning is not worth living, we can simply choose to kill ourselves (Camus,1955:6). Camus rejects this choice as cowardly. In his terms it is a repudiation or renunciation of life, not a true revolt.
example, through some type of mysticism or leap of faith) is to annihilate reason, which in Camus’ view is as fatal and self-destructive as physical suicide. In effect, instead of removing himself from the absurd confrontation of self and world like the physical suicide, the religious believer simply removes the offending world, replacing it, via a kind of metaphysical things, with a more agreeable alternative.
The last choice is simply to accept absurdity, or better yet to embrace it, and to continue living. Since the absurd in his view is an unavoidable, indeed defining, characteristic of the human condition, the only proper response to it is full, unflinching, courageous acceptance. As Camus said, that one must be lived all the better if it has no meaning (Camus, 1955:8). The idea of this revolt is can be seen in his use of Sisyphus is in his philosophical essay.
Doomed to eternal labor at his rock, fully conscious of the essential hopelessness of his plight, Sisyphus nevertheless pushes on. In doing so he becomes for Camus a superb icon of the spirit of revolt and of the human condition (http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/camus.htm. Accessed on October, 2007).
. In the Myth of Sisyphus, Camus explores the idea of absurdity by conducting a large scheme of explanation in form of essay. There he stated about the absurdity as the ultimate truth and provide requirements, which he said as the enumeration, to understand absurdity (Camus,1955:10). In the scheme we can
found the use of the three themes in the discussion on absurdity.
In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus stated about the indications of absurdity. In the essay titled Absurd Walls Camus showed how the absurdity can appear to men in a sudden attack. The absurd will be seen when men realize about their condition. This awareness leads men to the situation that there is an unexplainable
aware all the object of reality will be revealed from the meaning that they already
had have. One of the object is the daily live. When men realize the mechanically routine of their life, they are entering the step to experience the absurdity.
Another point of the schemes in understanding Camus’ concept of
absurdity is the idea of the end. The end or death is one of the objects of discussion on the idea of absurdity. Camus said that what is left is a destiny of
which only the end is predetermined. Apart from this single predetermined fact of death, all, joy or happiness, is freedom (O’Brien.1970: 30).
Camus pointed man to rise each day to fight a battle he knows he cannot
win. Although facing the ultimate truth of his failure to understand the world man should keep the struggle with wit, grace, compassion for others, and even a sense
of mission. In the other word man should became what Camus said as an absurd hero. A hero whose face the absurdity with all his integrities.
C. Theoretical Framework
The theories stated in this chapter will be use to analyze Endgame. The two theories, the theory of characters and the theory of characterization, will provide basic help in analyzing the characters in the play. The theory of absurdity of Camus will be a guide to find the value of absurdity in the characters of the play.
theory will help the analysis of the characters in Endgame. The theory of characterization by Edgar V. Robert and Henry E. Jacobs will be a guide in analyzing the characterization of the characters in the play. That is through what the characters themselves say, what the characters do, what other characters said
about them, and what the author say about them (speaking as a storyteller or an observer) this theory will help in studying the development of the characters in the
play.
This thesis uses Camus’ theory of absurdity as the basic. The analysis will be mainly based on the concept of absurdity by Camus. Making a intensive review
on the theory and study it from many point of view such as historically and it development as one of the philosophical school the writer would try to find how
26 A. Object of the Study
Samuel Beckett’s Endgame is a dramatic work which still uses the same theme of waiting that has been used in another Beckett’s playWaiting for Godot. Endgame was written in French, entitled Fin de Partie, then Samuel Beckett himself translated it into English. The process of writingEndgamewas finished in July 1956. It was published in February 1958 by Groove Press, copyright 1958 by
Groove Press. This play, the English version, consists of 43 pages and it was republished together with Beckett’s other plays in Samuel Beckett The Complete Dramatic Works by Faber and Faber limited in London in 1986. The first production, in the hands of Roger Blin, was put on in the Studio des Champs-Elysées in May of 1958.
Endgame is a play in one act. The characters of the play are four persons; Hamm, Clov, Nagg, and Nell. Each of the characters was described as having a
mutual depending toward another. The story began with Clov, the servant of the house, starts some activities which can be said as his daily tasks. Clov serves Hamm, the master but later can be concluded as Clov’s father, and Hamm’s
parents; Nagg and Nell who have no legs and living in the ashbin. Most parts of the play are the conversation between the four characters and it is dominated with
B. Approach of the Study
This thesis deals with the idea of absurdity that reflected in the characterization of characters in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. As a literary work Endgame can be said to have a value that is a reflection of the reality. The value could be in form of critic or an inspirable idea that will help man in their contemplation or searching for the meaning of live. This thesis will use this moral
philosophical idea as the main idea of the discussion.
Endgame is a portrait of the hopeless human condition. By using the idea of absurdity we can see that Endgame contain an idea of man searching the meaning of his life and it is a critic toward man eternal failure to understand about it. Therefore the Moral-philosophical approach will be applied in the analysis
since there is an indication of the present of philosophical value in Endgame. Moral-philosophical approach, according to Guerin, is an approach of which is basic is to examine the literary work that teach morality and to probe
philosophical issue (Guerin, 1979:29). With this approach, the analysis to find the idea of absurdity that reflected on the characterization of characters in Beckett’s
Endgamewill be possible to be done.
C. Method of the Study
to Sartre, The Theater of the Absurdand many more. The library research method is used as the main method in order to find out the play and supportive readings to study the topic. The writer also used the other media i.e. internet to collect an information that related to the research. By finding the data from relevant
websites, the writer got more information about the author, the play, the philosophy idea of absurdity, others related articles, and essays. Several steps in
the following were done to reach the result of the study.
Firstly, the writer read the play in order to understand about it. An intensive reading was taken for the purpose of the best understanding of the play.
The primary source of this study was Bekcett’s Endgame, a play which included in the book Samuel Beckett the Complete Dramatic Works. The writer was interested to the relation of the play with the philosophical idea about human existence. A deeper reading led the writer to specify the philosophical aspect into the idea of absurdity.
The second step was collecting the data that is related to the play and the philosophy of absurdity. Most of the data were the studies about Beckett’s work
of plays and it relation to the scope of philosophy. The writer also used secondary sources to analyze the study. Some of the sources are The Theatre of the Absurd and The Myth of Sisyphus. The first book was used as a guide in understanding Beckett’s dramas in the aspect of its role in the field of drama.
The third step was processing the data and starting to make the research in
step, the writer started the analysis by answering the problem formulations. The
collection of data and readings support the writer to understand the concept of philosophy and the theory of character and characterization. The Myth of Sisyphus is reliable guide to understand about the concept of Absurdity that stated by
Camus. The writer’s comprehension on the theory of character and characterization was supported by A Handbook of Literary Terms, and Reading the novel: An introduction to technique of interpreting fiction. The first problem formulation that is related to the characterization of all characters was answered by applied the theory to the fact that can be found in the play. The second problem
formulation, the idea of absurdity that reflected on the characterization of characters, was possible to answer after having an understanding of the concept of
absurdity.
Finally, the fourth step. This last step was drawing a conclusion. In this step the writer made a summary of all process of analyzing and the result
30
Samuel Beckett’sEndgame is a play in one act. The characters in the play appear
in their way of interaction to others. The play goes by showing a contact, and a communication that the characters build between themselves since they are members of a family. Most of the activity that the characters do in the play is the routine of their lives.
Endgame is a story about a life of a family. The characters are the four people who are father (Nagg), mother(Nell),son(Hamm), servant (Clov). The condition of this family, which is said as the last human being after a big catastrophe happened on the
earth, is dying for food and hope. These characters seemed like trapped in a monotonous condition that will be ended only by their natural deaths. The story is about how the characters deal with the time between their present time and the end of their lives.
This undergraduate thesis focused on the characterization of characters in
Endgame and certain idea reflected by the characterization. In this part the study will do the analysis by answering the questions that are stated in the Problem Formulation. The question that will be answered firstly is about the characterization of characters in the
In this part the writer will analyze the characterization of each of the characters in
Endgame. There are four characters in Endgame. They are, in order of the appearance, Clov, Hamm, Nagg and Nell. In this analysis the focus will be on all of the four characters. By reading and understanding the role of these characters in the play a conclusion can be drawn in how they are characterized.
1. Clov
Clov is a servant of Hamm. He is younger than Hamm. He is characterized as a person who has a staggering walk and a stiff movement. The physical description of Clov can be seen in the stage direction of the play.
CLOVgoes and stands under window left. Stiff, staggering walk(Beckett,1986:92). Clov has a physical problem, he can not sit. This physical problem of Clov is the opposite of the other character in Endgame, Hamm, whose physical problem is the
inability to stand.
HAMM . Sit on him! CLOV . I can’t sit.
HAMM . True. And I can’t stand (Beckett,1986:97).
There are other physical problems that Clov has. His legs and eyes are not in a
proper condition.
HAMM. How are your eyes? CLOV. Bad
HAMM. How are your legs? CLOV. Bad (Beckett,1986:95).
controlled by Hamm. His main duty is to wait an order from Hamm, or Nagg, and Nell. CLOV. I’ll go to my kitchen, ten feet by ten feet, and wait for him to whistle me
(Beckett,1986:93).
CLOV. I’m back again, with the biscuit. [He gives the biscuit to NAGG who fingers it, sniffs it.]
NAGG. [Plaintively.] What is it?
CLOV. Spratt’s Medium ( Beckett.1986:97).
Clov is obsessed by order. As we can see in the next first quotations his walking was done in an exact number of steps. This is shown by his straight movement and also his idea or ambition to arrange everything and put them in order. The addiction to put anything in order is one of the ways he is characterized inEndgame.
CLOV. I’ll go to my kitchen, ten feet by ten feet, and wait for him to whistle me (Beckett,1986:93).
CLOV : [Straightening up.] I love order. It’s my dream. A world where all would be silent and still and each thing in its last place, under the last dust
( Beckett,1986:120).
As a servant Clov is characterized as a person who is very loyal to Hamm. He finds that it is difficult for him to leave Hamm. As we can see in the following quotation, Clov has already tried to do it since he was a young boy. His obedience according to Clov
himself is something that he will not ever understand. HAMM. I thought told you to be off.
CLOV. I’m trying. [He goes to door, halts.] Ever since I was whelped (Beckett,1986:98).
CLOV. There’s one thing I’ll never understand. [ He gets down.] Why I always obey you. Can you explain that to me?
of not doing the action is a food. Hamm is the one who know the combination of the larder where the food is kept.
HAMM. Why don’t you kill me?
CLOV . I don’t know the combination of the larder. [ Pause.] (Beckett, 1986:96). Clov is very loyal to Hamm. As the result this character always changes his opinion when it is facing with Hamm’s. He never replies Hamm with a direct offensive
answer. The replying of Clov to Hamm can be said as a compromised answer or a loyal answer of a servant to his master.
HAMM. Nature has forgotten us. CLOV . There’s no more nature.
HAMM. No more nature! You exaggerate. CLOV. In the vicinity.
HAMM. But we breathe, we change! We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom! Our ideals!
CLOV. Then she hasn’t forgotten us.
HAMM. But you say there is none ( Beckett,1986: 97).
Clov and Hamm always has a conversation where both of them reply each other with a short expression. This expression is more about the logical meaning of the sentence rather than the motive of the speaker who said it. In the following quotations we can see how Clov and Hamm having the kind of conversation. Clov is characterized as a
person who has a different way of using language. HAMM. I’ll give you nothing more to eat. CLOV . Then we’ll die
HAMM. I’ll give you just enough to keep you from dying. You’ll be hungry all the time.
CLOV . Then we shan’t die (Beckett,1986: 95). HAMM. Why do you stay with me?
CLOV . Why do you keep me? HAMM. There’s no one else.
to leave Hamm but he never success in doing it. The conversation between Clov and Hamm about his leaving always ends with Clov’s obedience to Hamm. As we can see in
the following quotation, Clov follows what Hamm has said to him although it was a contradiction with his own previous idea. This is the part that explains that Clov is characterized as a person with a hesitation.
CLOV. So you all want me to leave you. HAMM. Naturally.
CLOV. Then I’ll leave you. HAMM. You can’t leave us.
CLOV. Then I shan’t leave you (Beckett,1986:110).
Clov does anything in the scheduled routine and seemed to have no concern about the other thing beside his job. He contemplates about the life that they have. This contemplation result in questions about the existence and the meaning of life. This is an
indication that Clov is characterized as a person who realizes about his existence. In the quotation below, there is a part where Clov asks Hamm about reason of his life that he has to face every day and his existence. Hamm answered that the reason of his life is the routine and the reason of his existence is the dialog.
CLOV. Why this farce, day after day? HAMM. Routine (Beckett.1986:107). CLOV. What is there to keep me here.
HAMM. The dialogue.[Pause.] (Beckett.1986:121).
Clov’s contemplation is also about the end of their life. This idea of end seems like the only exact thing that can be predicted in his life since Clov is a hesitating character. The first quotation below is the first dialog that Clov said in Endgame which
about the end.
CLOV. [Fixed gaze, tonelessly.] Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished (Beckett,1986:93).
CLOV. Do you see how it goes on. HAMM. More or less.
CLOV. Will it not soon be the end? HAMM. I’m afraid it will.
CLOV. Pah! You will make up another (Beckett,1986:122).
Clov has a kind of father-son relationship with Hamm. He is sometimes said as a son of Hamm. There is no exact information about Clov’s status in the family. There are only clues that show several facts about Clov. According to Hamm narration, in the
quotation follows, Clov is characterized as the son of a man who long time ago came to him for asking a help. At that time Clov was a little boy and he start to lives with Hamm as his father start to work there. The first quotation is a part of Hamm’s monologue where
he called Clov as his son, the second and third quotations are the story about the past time of Clov.
HAMM. If I can hold my peace, and sit quiet, it will be all over with sound, and motion, all over with sound, and done with.[Pause.] I’ll have called my father and I’ll have called my…[he hesitates]…my son (Beckett,1986:126).
HAMM. I’ll tell you how it goes. He comes crawling on his belly-CLOV. Who?
HAMM. What?
CLOV. Who do you mean, he?
HAMM. Who do I mean! Yet another. CLOV. Ah him! I wasn’t sure.
HAMM. Crawling on his belly, whining for bread for his brat. He’s offered a job as gardener. Before- [ CLOVbursts out laughing.] What is there so funny about that?(Beckett,1986:121).
HAMM.[ After reflection.] Nor I.[Pause.] I continue then. Before accepting with gratitude he asks if he may have his little boy with him.
HAMM. All the little odd jobs (Beckett,1986:122).
Clov, in the discussion of the physical ability, is characterized as the opposite of
Hamm. This situation makes Clove become a very important person for Hamm. The information about the outside world is come to Hamm through the sight of Clov. Hamm is depending on Clov almost for every single help.
HAMM. Look at sea. CLOV . It’s the same. HAMM. Look at the ocean!
[CLOV gets down, take a few steps towards window left, goes back for ladder, carries it over and sets it down under window left, gets up on it, turns the telescope on the without, looks at length. He starts, lowers the telescope, examines it, turns it again on the without.]
CLOV. Never seen anything like that!
HAMM. [Anxious.] What? A sail? A fin? Smoke? CLOV. [Looking.] The light is sunk.
HAMM. [Relieved] Pah! We all knew That (Beckett,1986:106).
In the end of the play, Clov is preparing to leave the place in order to see the little
boy that he has looked through the telescope. Hamm, who realized about Clov’s departure, said a long monologue that ended with an asking for Clov to remain.
HAMM. More complications! [CLOVgets down.] Not an underplot, I trust.
[CLOV moves ladder nearer window, gets up on it, turns telescope on the without.]
CLOV. [Dismayed.] looks like a small boy! HAMM.[Sarcastic.] A small …boy!
CLOV. I’ll go and see (Beckett,1986:130).
HAMM. And speak no more about it…[He finishes unfolding.]…speak no more. [He holds the handkerchief spread out before him.] Old stancher! [Pause.] You…remain. (Beckett,1986:133)
After made an analysis on the character of Clov, the characterization of this character can be said as follows. Clov is characterized as a loyal person. He is a loyal
a responsibility for food arrangement of the family. He provides Hamm with many helps since Hamm has a lot of physical problem. Clov made contemplation on his life, his
existence, and the end of his life. Clov is always characterized to leave the family but he never made it.
2. Hamm
Hamm is a blind middle-aged man. He is a senile old man who uses a wheeled chair. His position is in the center of the room. Hamm’s physical description in the text can be seen as follows.
In a dressing-gown, a stiff toque on his head, a large blood-stained handkerchief over his face, a whistle hanging from his neck, a rug over his knees, thick socks on his feet (Beckett,1986:93).
Hamm is characterized as a person who has the highest authority in the house. He controlled and kept the food supply for the people in the house. He is the one who knows
the combination of larder where the food is kept. This can be seen in the quotation below that shows Hamm’s control of the food storage.
HAMM. Why don’t you kill me?
CLOV. I don’t know the combination of the larder.[Pause.] (Beckett,1986:96).
HAMM. Why don’t you finish us?[Pause.] I’ll tell you the combination of the larder if you promise to finish me (Beckett,1986:110).
Hamm is characterized as a noble person. He has a good sense in using his noble
manner with words. Hamm has a special characteristic of talking. He sometimes speaks in a monologue style. The opening and the closing of Hamm’s part of dialog were done in monologue. The first of the quotations follow is his first dialogue, and the second is his
glasses, puts them on again, folds the handkerchief and puts it neatly in the breast-pocket of his dressing-gown. He clears his throat, joins the tips of his fingers.] Can there be misery-[He yawns]-loftier than mine? No doubt. Formerly. But Now? [Pause.] (Beckett,1986:93).
HAMM. Me to play. [Pause. Wearily.] Old endgame, play and lose and have done with losing. [Pause. More animated.] Let me see.[Pause.] Ah yes![He tries to move the chair, using the gaff as before. Enter CLOV, dressed for the road. Panama hat, tweed coat, raincoat over his arm, umbrella, bag. He halts by the door and stands there, impassive and motionless, his eye fixed on HAMM, till the end.HAMMgives up.] (Beckett,1986:132).
Hamm is a storyteller. During the play he several times tells a story, he called it as his soliloquy, which is a narration of something he wants to say or his memory of a past time. As we can see in the below quotations, the first is Hamm’s story about the process
of being old that will happen to Clov. The story about his friend who has a mentally illness can be seen in the second quotation.
HAMM. In my house.[Pause. With prophetic relish.] One day you’ll be blind, like me. You’ll be sitting there, a speck in the void, in the dark, for ever, like me.[
Pause.] One day you’ll say to yourself, I’m tired, I’ll sit down, and you’ll go and sit down. Then you’ll say, I’m hungry, I’ll get up and get something to eat. But you won’t get up (Beckett,1986:109).
HAMM. I once knew a madman who thought the end of the world had come. He was a painter-and engraver. I had a great fondness for him. I used to go and see him, in the asylum. I’d take him by the hand and drag him to window. Look! There! All the rising corn! And there! Look! The sails of the herring fleet! All that loveliness![Pause.] He’d snatch away his hand and go back into his corner. Appalled. All he had seen was ashes (Beckett,1986:113).
Hamm calls his story as his soliloquy or chronicle. He wants to be heard by
CLOV. He’s asleep.
HAMM. Wake him.( Beckett,1986:115).
Hamm has a problem on his emotion. His unstable emotion is able to turn him
from a calm and easy speaker to a brutal and violent screamer. When something or somebody interrupts him annoyingly he will use strong words of curse to express his feeling of dislike. The expression that he used for cursing is a formal expression, such as
“accursed progenitor”, this, again, shows that he is characterized as a person with nobility.
HAMM. Accursed progenitor! NAGG. Me pap!
HAMM. The old folks at home! No decency Left! Guzzle,guzzle, that’s all they think of.[He whistles. Enter CLOV. He halts beside the chair.] Well! I thought you were leaving me (Beckett,1986:96).
Hamm’s awareness of his life condition leads him to think about its end. He
knows that the only truth is that the end of life will come. He also knows that he and the others people in the house have a freedom to make the end comes faster. He several times said to Clov to leave or to end the life of him and the rest of the family.
HAMM. Why don’t you finish us?[Pause.] I’ll tell you the combination of the larder if you promise to finish me.
CLOV. I couldn’t finish you (Beckett,1986 : 110).
In the middle of their suffering condition Hamm still dreamed for a joyful life somewhere out there and the existence of another human being. The condition of the
world in their time is post-great catastrophic one. Hamm and his parents are not in good physical condition. All the characters have a physically problem. Hamm is blind, paralyzed, and a user of pain-killer. They are running out of food and medicine supply
other…mammals!(Beckett,1986:109).
HAMM. That here we’re down in a hole. [Pause.] But beyond the hills? Eh? Perhaps it’s still green. Eh? [Pause] Flora! Pomona! [Ecstatically.] Ceres! [Pause.] Perhaps you won’t need to go very far (Beckett,1986:111).
Hamm’s attitude in the previous paragraph, however, is not the indication that Hamm is hoping of a better life. Hamm is characterized as a hesitating person. He never
really wants a better life or any other life at all. This can be seen in his dislike of the possibility of a new life that occurs several times in the play. The quotation below shows the part when Hamm worries about a crablouse that Clov has in his body. Hamm is afraid that the insect will start a new life on earth.
CLOV. [Anguished, scratching himself.] Unless it’s crablouse.
HAMM.[Very perturbed.] But humanity might start from there all over again! Catch him, for the love of God! (Beckett,1986 : 108).
Hamm is characterized as a senile person. Since he is weak and unable to move
his body, Hamm depends on other’s help to do his activity. Clov as the servant is the one who always help him. The helps are the sight, the movement, food supply, and a listener. Whenever Hamm wants to know the information about their surrounding Clov will provide him with the information about it.
HAMM. What’s the weather like? CLOV. The same as usual.
HAMM. Look at the earth. CLOV. I’ve looked. HAMM. With the glass? CLOV. No need of the glass.
HAMM. Look at it with the glass ( Beckett,1986:105).
an answer when Clov asking about the reason of their existence. This can be seen in the second and third quotation below.
CLOV. [ Violently.] that means that bloody awful day, long ago, before this bloody awful day. I use the words you taught me, if they don’t mean anything anymore, teach me others (Beckett,1986 :113).
CLOV. Why this farce, day after day? HAMM. Routine (Beckett.1986:107).
CLOV. What is there to keep me here.
HAMM. The dialogue.[Pause.] (Beckett.1986:121).
Hamm is characterized as a person who has a particular way to communicate with Clov. As we can see in the conversation between Hamm and Clov, they are talking in a
choppier manner. The language they used is seemed less thoughtfully and more automatically.
HAMM. I’ll give you nothing more to eat. CLOV . Then we’ll die
HAMM. I’ll give you just enough to keep you from dying. You’ll be hungry all the time.
CLOV . Then we shan’t die. (Beckett,1986: 95). HAMM. Why do you stay with me?
CLOV . Why do you keep me? HAMM. There’s no one else.
CLOV . There’s nowhere else. (Beckett,1986:95).
Based on the play we can see some evidences that show the relation between Hamm and Clov. Hamm is characterized as the master of Clov and also as a person who
treated Clov as his own son. One of Hamm’s narrations is about a man who comes to Hamm in asking for a help. This man is probably a real father of Clov. The story indicates that the man wanted to work for Hamm.
belly-CLOV. Who do you mean, he?
HAMM. Who do I mean! Yet another. CLOV. Ah him! I wasn’t sure.
HAMM. Crawling on his belly, whining for bread for his brat. He’s offered a job as gardener. Before- [ CLOVbursts out laughing.] What is there so funny about that?(Beckett,1986:121).
The analysis on the characterization of Hamm resulted in some conclusions. Hamm is characterized as an old man who has a lot of physical weakness and also as
noble person. He has the highest authority in the house. He controlled the food supply for the people in the house. Hamm has a special characteristic of talking. He sometimes speaks in a monologue style. His unstable emotion makes him as a cruel and offensive
character. Hamm is characterized as a hesitating person. He is worrying about the possibility of a new life. Hamm is aware that the only truth in his life is the end or his natural death. In communicating with Clov Hamm used a peculiar style of conversation.
He is dependent on Clov, his servant, who he treated like his own son.
3. Nagg
Nagg is the father of Hamm. He is characterized as a person who lives in the bin, a kind of container. This is due to his physical condition. He is characterized as an old,
sick, legless person with a very white face.
CLOV .Sometimes on horse. [The lid of one of the bins lift and the hands ofNAGG
appear, gripping the rim. Then his head emerges. Very white face. NAGG
yawns, then listens] (Beckett,1986:96).
He lost his legs in the accident that he had with his wife. The story about the accident can be seen in the first quotation below. Nagg loves his wife, Nell, very much and he is not really in a good relation with his son, Hamm. Nagg has a habit of telling a
case he is different from Hamm who insisted on the other person to hear his story. Nagg is a romantic character, the story that he told is about the happy life of him and his wife
past time. The intention of him in telling the story is to make his wife happy. NAGG. Do you
remember-NELL. No.
NAGG. When we crashed on our tandem and lost our shanks. [They laugh heartily.] NELL. It was in the Ardennes. [They laugh less heartily.]
NAGG. On the road to Sedan (Beckett,1986:100).
NAGG . What does that mean? [Pause.] That means nothing.[Pause.] Will I tell you the story of the tailor?
NELL . No.[Pause.] What for? NAGG . To cheer you up. NELL . It’s not funny.
NAGG. It always made you laugh. [Pause.] The first time I thought you’d die (Beckett,1986:102).
Nagg is characterized as a loving person. He loves his wife Nell. He cares about Nell condition although he can not do much about it since he is limited by the physical
condition. In their sorrow and painful condition Nagg tries to do his best for Nell. He tells a happy and romantic story, he cares about Nell physical condition and he shares the food with her.
NAGG . …Do you want a bit?
NELL . Biscuit. I’ve kept you half. [He looks at the biscuit. Proudly. ] Three quarters. For you. Here. [He proffers the biscuit.] No? [Pause.] Do you not fe
