Ｏｎ Ｓｙｍｂｏｌｉｃ Ｍｅａｎｉｎｇｓ ｏｆＣｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｓ ｉｎ Ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ Ｇｏｄｏｔ

［摘 要］Samuel Beckett，the 1969 Nobel laureate in literature，became famous and well-known more because of his Waiting for Godot than any of his other works.The present paper gives an analysis on characters' symbolic meanings in this play，and it draws the conclusion that Beckett uses symbolic characters to picture a psychological world of modern people.

［關鍵詞］character symbolic meaning psychological world

［中圖分類號］I106 ［文獻標識碼］A ［文章編號］1009－5489(2008)10－0182－01

1.Introduction

Samuel Beckett(1906~1989)is an Irish-born playwright and also winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.Waiting for Godot，a turning point in both Beckett's life and career，qualifies as Samuel Beckett's masterpiece，which was originally written in French in 1948 and then translated personally by Beckett into English.The play's world premiere was held on January 5，1953，in the Left Bank Theater of Babylon in Paris.From then on，its reputation spread and it became quite famous.

Waiting for Godot is a play developed around five characters.Its two main characters，Estragon and Vladimir，from the beginning to the end，are waiting for somebody，whom they call Godot.Two more characters，Pozzo and Lucky，appear as temporally break to the boring waiting.And the character Godot，until the end of the play，never does turn up.

And these five characters are all carry symbolic meanings，which exert a far-reaching influence on decoding the author's implied meaning.This paper attempts to analyze their symbolic meanings to reveal the hidden meaning Beckett has conveyed.

2.Estragon and Vladimir(nickname as Gogo and Didi)

The characters，Estragon and Vladimir，are symbolic.Gogo can be considered as the id，and Didi the ego of natural type man.We can find clue from their names.\"Estragon\"，the French word for the herb，tarragon，is a name that implies persistent physical appetite，while\"Vladimir\"，means\"ruler of the world\"，a name that suggests the aspiration of intellect to master the universe.Furthermore，there are some other proofs offered in the play，where Gogo seems more physical and practical.He concentrates mainly on physical needs.He asks for carrots and radishes and is eager to hang himself when he hears that it will give him an erection.He forgets almost everything except the bone.To Gogo，sleep makes him more comfortable.While sleeping，he can express himself without any repression.Even when he wakes up，he still likes to talk about his dreams.However，every time Gogo wants to tell Didi of his dreams，Didi refuses to listen to him.Didi cannot allow himself to be led by Gogo's emotions.Every time Gogo wants to leave，it is Didi that reminds him that their task is waiting for Godot.So we can see that Didi is more spiritual and ideal.He is more like a thinker.In the play，Gogo and Didi supplement each other and cannot exist without the other.Although they long for separation，they always fear to leave in end.Their symbiotic relationship represents that the id and the ego depend closely on each other and cannot be parted.

3.Pozzo and Lucky

The two figures，Pozzo and Lucky，can be seen as symbols as well.Pozzo is a symbol of the id，and Lucky the ego，but of social type man.Pozzo is more material.He has a strong sense of property.He takes lots of belongings on his way from selling Lucky，for example，a picnic basket，a heavy bag，a folding stool，a pipe，a watch and so on.He even claims that the land where Gogo and Didi are waiting belongs to him.And Lucky is more spiritual.He is always asked to\"think\"for an entertainment.In the play，we also notice that this master-and-slave pair is a blend of sadism and masochism.Even through Pozzo treats Lucky brutally，controlling him by a rope and ordering him by single and dirty words：\"Dance!\"\"Think!\"\"Pig!\"\"Hog!\"etc.，Lucky is unwilling to separate with his master and he will carry out whatever Pozzo asks him to do unquestioningly.What's more，Lucky is obsessed with carrying burdens.He seems to enjoy being slaved.This relation between Pozzo and Lucky further shows the relation between the id and the ego；that is，the id controls the ego and the ego is submitted to the id.

4.Godot

The symbolic meaning of Godot has been the subject of much debate.The character Godot plays an important role in the play，for who never appears yet is always present.The waiting for him is the central clue throughout the whole play.But who is Godot？In attempting to unravel this query，some interpreters have proposed that Godot represents God by taking the name as deriving from the French word for a boot，godillot.They hold that the waiting for Godot is the waiting for God's salvation.Others consider that Godot stands for the unclear hope，a hope to get the salvation to escape from sufferings or change the predicament.Although it is vague and indistinct，it really makes people see the light in disappointed and hopeless then become brave and courageous.Maybe the hope will never come true，the waiting for it totally in vain.But it doesn't matter.People will go on anyway.

In fact，Godot is a symbol of the superego，the ideal part of personality.It is worth to note that the missing of character Godot means the lack of the superego，and the waiting for Godot reflects the want of the superego.

5.Conclusion

Through unveiling the symbolic meanings of above characters，we found that Beckett has encoded a deep psychological world of modern people by applying symbolism on its characters.And from the foregoing analysis，we can draw that the modern people's psychological world，which Beckett tries to portray，is a world lacking of the superego，the ego slave to the id.From which we can see that modern people live an animal-like life，away from conscience，the spirit controlled by material desire.

［參考文獻］

［1］Beckett，Samuel.Collected Shorter Plays，New York：Grove Press，1984

［2］Beckett，Samuel.Waiting for Godot，New York：Grove WeidenField，1982

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