ipl-logo

Endgame Isolation Essay

1113 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theme of loneliness in literature

Phillip Pacheco
Lit. Matters Final Paper
5/1/17

Isolation in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame

In terms of bleakness, Samuel Beckett’s Endgame is a hard one to surpass. Not limited by its intricacies, Endgame is a one-act play that depicts the wretched and monotonous interactions between figurative characters in a post-apocalyptic world. Beckett uses several powerful themes throughout the play including the true meaning of life and death, but I believe the most important to be the idea of loneliness. This theme plays an omnipresent role throughout the play in terms of the effect it has on each character 's self-recognition as well as their relationships. Through Beckett’s use of dialogue, character elements, and setting, he is able to portray a conflicting …show more content…

The craving for isolation is a temporary phase constructed by the dialogue that portrays a sort of human dynamic. It shows that everyone living in this sort of dreary world can be potentially subjected to the effects of desolation and that perhaps interaction and relationships are things of utmost importance that must be preserved. Despite the fact that isolation is a scary notion, the dialogue in Endgame still indicates that the characters find ways to separate themselves from each other intermittently. Both Nagg and Nell have their trashcans they reside in and Clov isolates himself in the kitchen where no one else can …show more content…

HAMM:

What? A sail? A fin? Smoke?

CLOV:

The light is sunk.

HAMM:

Pah! We all knew that!

CLOV:

There was a bit left.

HAMM:

The base.

CLOV:

Yes.

HAMM:

And now?

CLOV:

All gone. (Beckett, Endgame)

The setting contributes greatly to the theme because of the fact that everything in their world is located within that small, grey, and plain room. There is nothing outside for as far as the eye can see, and since there is nothing, they are metaphorically trapped within the house and are forced to be subjected to its depressive nature. Samuel Beckett’s Endgame touches deeply upon the notion of loneliness and its many diverse variables that can have the greatest effect. This philosophical ideology of isolation on its own creates meaning and complexity that renders Endgame nearly boundless in regards to interpretation. The constant struggle in the dialogue between desire and fear, as well as the effect of the bleak and seemingly lifeless setting, greatly drives the characters into the cyclical nature of what seems to be nothing short of

Show More
Related

Iron Thunder Summary

835 Words | 4 Pages

The shooken up crew regained themselves and counter attacked. The hit damaged one

Read More

Jacob Lawrence's This Is A Family Living In Harlem

506 Words | 3 Pages

In the case of Jacob Lawrence, his personal style brought the African-American experience to life using contrasts between dark and vivid colors. Nonetheless, two examples of some of his most known paintings include “ The Builders, The Family” and “This is a Family Living in Harlem”. While both paintings are similar in that they both show strong family unity in the African Culture, they are different in the setting where each of the paintings are taking place. Strong family unity is present in, “ The Builders, The Family”, as it shows a nice, well dressed family walking together on their way to either church or their household.

Read More

Most Dangerous Game Imagery Essay

920 Words | 4 Pages

Panic, anxiety, and most importantly, fear, are all components that form the adventurous tale, The Most Dangerous Game. Rainsford, the protagonist of the story, is widely recognized as an experienced hunter who ventures off in a ship to travel to Rio in order to hunt jaguars. However, the story turns when Rainsford falls off his ship, encounters a hunter who hunts men, and becomes the prey himself. Although Connell sets up an intense plot by using irony, characterization, word choice, and other literary devices, imagery is one of the main aspects that releases an uneasy feeling within the audience. Imagery is a common literary device that authors use to engage a reader into the story, by painting the scene in the audience’s mind.

Read More

Teamwork In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

1217 Words | 5 Pages

His loneliness causes him to “trying to feel some kind of good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it.

Read More

Essay On Ender's Game

612 Words | 3 Pages

In Orson Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game, Ender is continually set up against impossible odds by the International Fleet, which is part of a plan to train Ender to fight in the Third Invasion and end the bugger wars forever. Ender’s trials are portrayed more convincingly in the book, as the book shows him struggling with the expectations placed upon him more so than in the movie. An important theme in Ender’s Game is that Ender is continually kept in the dark about the events happening around him. This theme is prevalent throughout the book, and sets the stage for the book’s climax, the Third Invasion.

Read More

Isolation And Loneliness In Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

1070 Words | 5 Pages

In his journey, Ender endures multiple occasions of adversity, with the root of the problems coming from the isolation and loneliness that the government and army put him through. This begins to weaken him both individually and emotionally, and it eventually takes a toll on him. Within Ender, Card shows that isolation and loneliness can destroy an individual through his collapse and his change in personality. After the grueling training and numerous battles that the government puts Ender through, along with all of the isolation and loneliness that he endures, he collapses in the processes both during and after the burdens were put onto him.

Read More

Examples Of Loneliness In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

863 Words | 4 Pages

The light in the darkness comes with the father’s goodbye when he tells the boy, “‘You have to carry the fire.’ ‘I dont know how to.’ Yes you do.’ ‘Is it real? The fire?’

Read More

Friendship And Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1145 Words | 5 Pages

First, loneliness is the sadness caused by having no friends or company, and friendship is a state of mutual trust and support between people, they are polar opposites, yet a person may acclaim to have both. For example today a person may have a friend, or many, but still will face loneliness in their life in one way or another. This is shown in Of Mice and Men periodically throughout the novel, knowing this the reader is challenged with such themes, the enticing beauty of friendship between George and Lennie, and the gloomy dreaded idea of loneliness shown by Curley’s wife, Candy, Crooks, and again Lennie. Among these characters the reader may also feel a connection between themselves and the characters, even though the world now and during the publication of Of Mice and Men has changed a lot. The world has reformed, and developed exponentially so, however friendship and loneliness is still a facet of everyday

Read More

The Role Of Eternity In Thornton Wilder's Our Town

460 Words | 2 Pages

Readers observe the Stage Manager’s inital definition of “eternal” by noting the events of Act III. Here, popular characters such as Mrs. Gibbs and Simon Stimson exist, though not in the world of the living; rather, they silently observe mortals from beyond the grave. As they exist, time and events eternally unfold around them. The Stage Manager views “eternity” as something abstract, yet he illustrates it in every single human being. He believes eternity serves as a bridge between unappreciative and humility.

Read More

Loneliness In Teju Cole's Open City

1776 Words | 8 Pages

In human nature, fear is a big part of how we act, but there is one thing that we are the most afraid of, loneliness. People are often social people, and when you take out the possibility of talking and communicating to someone, you will feel a kind of sadness. There are people who are absolutely fine with being lonely, but most of the human population will not be able to stand it. In Teju Cole’s book “Open City”, Cole creates a character that represents the sadness and fear of being alone. Loneliness is something that we can never get over, the main character in Open City, Julius, was forced to deal with the fact that he was indeed alone, without anyone there to comfort him, and even if he had found someone, it would not last long, and the only thing that Julius wants, is to able to be free.

Read More

Repetition In Gilgamesh

739 Words | 3 Pages

It sets up a reader for thier future and what is to come: grief. The story shows how our relationships to others vary from person to person. People are caring and selfish, sympathetic and indifferent, hopeful and completely discouraged. Like any story, the readers gain their own lessons, but still explore the universal themes of loneliness, companionship, love, loss, and death. It shows us that grief can overtake us, as well as looking for an unapproachable

Read More

Of Mice And Men Theme Essay

790 Words | 4 Pages

Loneliness can often make a person feel empty and upset. It can leave a person in despair and make them feel like they have no ambition. Steinbeck presents the possibility of forlornness and men who chip away at ranches,

Read More

The Pedestrian Mood Analysis

651 Words | 3 Pages

Authors use literary devices so that the readers can connect and better understand the mood of the story. Bradbury in “The Pedestrian” uses a variety of lit devices to develop his mood of the story. Bradbury in "The Pedestrian" uses personification, simile, and imagery to develop the mood of loneliness so that the reader can see the dark world the character is living in. Ray Bradbury uses personification to develop the mood of the world the character is living in. The first time he uses personification is when he says, “there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomb-like building was still open” (Pg 1).

Read More

Gothic Fiction In 'Where Is Here '?'

745 Words | 3 Pages

Author Joyce Carol Oates ' discovery of the stories of Edgar Allen Poe and Ann Radcliff “sparked her interest in Gothic fiction”. These Gothic elements typically include gruesome or violent incidents, characters in psychological or physical torment, and strong language full of dangerous meanings. Oates herself is citied as saying that "Horror is a fact of life. As a writer, I’m fascinated by all facets of life". “Where is Here?" This story is sort of eerie and tells the tale of a grown-up man who goes back to visit his childhood home.

Read More

How Does Ray Bradbury Use Symbolism In The Pedestrian

764 Words | 4 Pages

But most of the story is a form of symbolism. This story gives the reader a look at what it feels like to be lonely. In this world it’s seems hard, cold, and alone. The world seems dead. But many people in our world would say it’s not that different then the one Ray Bradbury wrote about.

Read More

More about Endgame Isolation Essay

Related Topics

Open Document