Cultural Congruence Regarding Insanity in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot

Insanity, defined as “A severely disordered state of mind usually occurring as a specific disorder; extreme folly or unreasonableness” by online dictionary Merriam-Webster, is a concept that is explored in Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot. This conventional definition of the word “insanity,” however, does not fully define the extent to which Beckett’s play explores it through its main characters, Vladimir and Estragon. Waiting for Godot, which was written a few years subsequent to World War II, encompasses surrealist and absurdist ideas. The insanity that is exemplified throughout the course of the play can be defined as “A severely disordered state of mind; extreme folly or unreasonableness derived from possessing a resistant or nonconforming mindset to societal standards.” Beckett’s employment of Vladimir and Estragon as the main characters allows the play’s audience to see that congruent to the cultural background affiliated with the play itself, Vladimir and Estragon were not to be deemed insane; they merely possessed a different mindset that allowed them to jump between the extremes of the meaning of life and derive pleasure from unconventional events from their daily encounters.


In the exposition of the play, Beckett introduces us to the complex friendship between Estragon and Vladimir. Similar to the friendship between George and Lennie of Mice and Men, Vladimir assumes a father-like figure, ensuring that Estragon was fine as they proceeded with their apparent voyaging. This apparent voyaging, however, is the topic that Beckett fixates on; what seems to be a pointless adventure and induces the possibility of the presence of insanity within the two main characters is actually a proclamation of independence from conformity to what actions society has deemed as the norm. Vladimir and Estragon’s peculiar topics to spur a conversation, such as religion, to a sudden jump to conversing about vegetables, exemplify the men’s want to not engage in a conversation that revolves about conventional topics, such as the weather or about their days. Beckett then continues by introducing Pozzo and his slave, Lucky. Estragon and Vladimir, despite the eccentricity affiliated with an owner of a dog-like human slave, decide to invest their time and indulge in this strange encounter. Vladimir and Estragon experience Pozzo’s dominating emotional instability, and subsequent to his return to normality, Lucky undergoes his mental break, as illustrated by his incessant speech: “Given the existence… so calm… Cunard… unfinished…” (Beckett 34-35) As Lucky and Pozzo make their exit out of the scene, Beckett then proceeds to introduce the play’s audience to the little boy who bears news regarding Godot’s whereabouts.


As illustrated by the play’s title, Vladimir and Estragon’s wandering about the country road was not necessarily purposeless; they were constantly motivated by the potential idea that they would be able to encounter Godot. Beckett’s use of such odd intrinsic motivations within Vladimir and Estragon is reflective of the cultural backdrop of the play’s era. Samuel Beckett, who had written this play in Post World War II France, had deviated from the philosophical movements that were ongoing during the 1940s. The Liberation of Paris in 1944 had restored the independence of the nation and allowed France to become a new country, despite its old existence. This prompted for the creation of existentialism as its own philosophy; existentialism emphasized the existence of an individual and the idea that human nature is shaped by the individual itself. Existentialism was essentially the norm philosophically following the Second World War, but Beckett had chosen to ignore this norm. His deviation by employing absurdist thoughts within the characters of his play is reflected in the application of the concept of insanity. Vladimir and Estragon were not insane; their thoughts and belief regarding the purpose of life simply deviated from others who possessed an existentialist mindset. The two characters embraced their absurdist ideas; like Meursault in Camus’ novel The Stranger, they were mentally different from the rest of the French society. Absurdism, because there was no meaning in the world, “any attempt to create meaning is an attraction” (Lecture Notes). Because Vladimir and Estragon had strayed from the norm and had brought attention to themselves by attempting to create meaning through the waiting for Godot, Beckett’s audience may come to believe that the two men are insane. However, like its cultural background, it is ignorance and not insanity that defines Vladimir and Estragon. Beckett’s audience may believe that their unconventional encounters and actions deem the two insane; however, it is simply the fact that their minds will not allow conventionality to seep through.