Great Works Annotation Project

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• Endgame by Samuel Beckett (26 comments)

  • Comment by aj163195 on April 4, 2015

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    The “Breakfast Club”, much like Endgame by Samuel Beckett is a story about nothingness and death. While in “Breakfast Club”, the characters face a more symbolic death; both stories have a clever take on the idea of playing a game knowing it comes to an end. In this passage Hamm wants to hear something genuine from Clov about their friendship but Clov wittingly drives the conversation into something entirely about how he provides so much and holds on to the hope of being free someday. “Why this farce, day after day?”, Clov asks this and Hamm following this paragraph reveals to him that they depend on each other. Hamm needs Clov’s assistance and Clov needs Hamm’s money. Just as in the “Breakfast Club”, the teens stare at the clock which seems to be never ending and turning at such a slow pace indicating that the time they spend there will never come to an end. They realize that they are not the brute beasts they were put out to be by the detention teacher. The athlete turns out to be a puppet of his father with an unusual taste for a pathological girl and the hoodlum teen ends up winning the heart of the virgin beauty. In both Endgame and “Breakfast Club”, the characters are stripped down at the end of each story. As Hamm puts it, “moments for nothing, now as always time is never and time is over,” the teens expose the truth at the end of the movie when they realize that they disliked each other due to the conventions of an older generation and they decide “when you grow up your heart dies”. There is no question that the “Breakfast Club”, has found friendship and they learn to simply suffer BETTER because, at the end it ends and there is no point to simply suffer.

    Comment by aj163195 on April 4, 2015

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    The “Breakfast Club”, much like Endgame by Samuel Beckett is a story about nothingness and death. While in “Breakfast Club”, the characters face a more symbolic death; both stories have a clever take on the idea of playing a game knowing it comes to an end. In this passage Hamm wants to hear something genuine from Clov about their friendship but Clov wittingly drives the conversation into something entirely about how he provides so much and holds on to the hope of being free someday. “Why this farce, day after day?”, Clov asks this and Hamm following this paragraph reveals to him that they depend on each other. Hamm needs Clov’s assistance and Clov needs Hamm’s money. Just as in the “Breakfast Club”, the teens stare at the clock which seems to be never ending and turning at such a slow pace indicating that the time they spend there will never come to an end. They realize that they are not the brute beasts they were put out to be by the detention teacher. The athlete turns out to be a puppet of his father with an unusual taste for a pathological girl and the hoodlum teen ends up winning the heart of the virgin beauty. In both Endgame and “Breakfast Club”, the characters are stripped down at the end of each story. As Hamm puts it, “moments for nothing, now as always time is never and time is over,” the teens expose the truth at the end of the movie when they realize that they disliked each other due to the conventions of an older generation and they decide “when you grow up your heart dies”. There is no question that the “Breakfast Club”, has found friendship and they learn to simply suffer BETTER because, at the end it ends and there is no point to simply suffer.

    Comment by y.li8 on April 5, 2015

                 Clov and Hamm’s unique relationship is characterized by their interesting daily routine: bantering back and forth and Clov threatening to leave the house while Hamm pretends to be complacent of Clov’s attempt to leave. Although they share a peculiar relationship, both Clov and Hamm care deeply for each other because they are the only form of excitement and entertainment to each other’s life. Their relationship can be visually depicted and represented by a popular American short film series, Tom and Jerry. In the series, Tom and Jerry are “enemies” who try to oust one another on a daily basis. Tom is similar to Hamm, in which he plays the master in this relationship because Tom is the more superior creature who desperately tries to outwit his arch nemesis, Jerry the mouse. Jerry resembles Clov because he also has the potential to leave Tom’s household at any time he desires, but he chooses not to because life is more entertaining and lively when he gets to play with Tom. In Dog Trouble, Tom and Jerry starts off their normal routine, trying to outwit each other. When Jerry sees Tom painfully running away and being tortured by Spike, he whistles at Tom to signal him to hide on top of the cuckoo clock with him. Although Jerry and Tom love laughing at each other suffering, it is clear that both characters care for each other, similar to how Clov puts up with Hamm’s demanding requests. Staying true to the nature of their relationship, their temporary pact formed to get Spike in trouble ends with Tom misunderstanding Jerry’s intentions and the two start their daily outwitting routine again, just like how Beckett implies that Clov and Hamm will start their routine again by ending the play with Hamm doing the same action, sitting on the chair with the handkerchief on his face remaining motionless as he was first introduced in the play.
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zKV_woaoqc
    

    Comment by gv167447 on April 5, 2015

    Endgame like chess is the moment when the king is in a position of being captured. In this case, the endgame is death. It is the moment when the king is in a position of being captured. The king in the game of chess is the weakest player and also the most important.  There are in total sixteen pieces to one player in the game. Hamm is the weakest character in the story. He is not only blind but he depends on Clov with everything. Clov is the rest of the fifteen pieces or the different contributing factors that influence the event of death. Every move he makes influences an outcome. It draws Hamm either closer or further away from death. Clov can move in different directions. He can move left, right, up and/or down. Hamm moves mostly forward. Every day he is moving closer to death. But in the game of chess, we only know one thing, that either of the two players has an even chance of winning. In the game of life, we all know the end result. Death is the end result and it is up to the player to make use of how the moment until that event is played or spent. Hamm is dependent on Clov to survive in the same way that Clov depends on the friendship and employment from Hamm. This dependent relationship is what they know. While Hamm wants to die and Clov threatens to leave him, he does not leave him. When you have such a strong bond with someone, his or her life easily becomes your life. Whatever move you make next, make sure you play it wisely and always think ahead of your opponent. You must always be aware of your current move and have your next one planned out.

    Comment by vt145132 on April 5, 2015

    The relationship between Clov and Hamm is similar to that of Tony Soprano and his mother Livia Soprano. In this passage, Hamm uses his physical situation to play the martyr. He’s made himself to be the victim of something that is not unexpected with old age. Blindness among seniors is not very common, but there’s a possibility it can come about with old age. He takes his burden and puts it on Clov; this seems mentally exhausting because Clov knows he’s a grumpy old man, but the guy creates a depressing atmosphere with his complaining. Livia is just as overbearing, especially towards her son, Tony. She remembers all the bad things that has happened to her and is not shy about sharing it in addition to reveling in it.

    Comment by vt145132 on April 5, 2015

    This is Livia Soprano making the lives of everyone around her miserable with her negativity. In this passage, Hamm’s abstract description of an unfillable dark void may just seem like words and if you don’t think about it, it won’t ruin you’re day. But if you read into it, it’ll stir up a petrifying feeling of angst and helplessness that no one wants to experience. This is verbal abuse on an intellectual level. “daughters are better at taking care of their mothers than sons,” is one of the things she says to Tony on a regular basis. She’s calling him a bad son, even though he makes an effort to make sure she’s taken care of.

    Comment by vt145132 on April 5, 2015

    This passage is analogous to Livia Soprano saying “Poor You” to one of her children. Hamm’s telling Clov no one would be around to feel sorry for him; Livia isn’t exactly saying this, but she’s often sarcastic whenever she says “poor you”. Like Hamm, she’s not a sympathizer. If you go to her with you’re problems, she’ll shit all over you, the same way Hamm shits all over Clov.

    Comment by jj160982 on April 6, 2015

    The Endgame is a stage in the game of Chess, were the end draws near and the outcome is almost foreseeable. Sometimes the outcome is not favorable but a good sport is forced to play the game until the end. In chess the pieces are trapped in the game as are the players until someone is defeated. Also in the Endgame the danger and importance of every move is heightened. In Wu-Tang Clan’s Da Mystery of Chessboxin the narrator states in the first lines “The game of chess is like a sword fight you must think first before you move” Survival in this world depends on every move made by the player, by every piece. Clov nervously walks about the stage of the theater of the absurd in strange patterns when performing the tasks requested of him. He can’t sit and walks about taking care of his tormentor Hamm who can’t stand or see. Nagg and Nell have limited mobility at most and are dependent on Clov. I envision a very similar picture in my mind to the background of Da Mystery of Chessboxin’s video a very raw, stripped of setting, plot and with only a few characters which aids the authors in giving the viewer the message they want to convey. Both the Video and Play portray humans as chess pieces like the Pawns and the King relying on each other for cover, guidance and survival in a messed up world of death and decay. Hamm seems to not regard anyone else in the play, He is the losing king or the losing player awakening “to play” (Norton 768). but as he says it later in the page himself “and yet I hesitate, I hesitate to… to end”. The checkmate approaches him. He may be the king but he’s the most useless piece in the game when he’s alone. The king cannot win by himself and therefore is cursed to End the game alone on the chessboard surrounded by his enemies since he cannot be captured.

    Comment by g.rodriguez1 on April 6, 2015

    The play Endgame takes place in this post apocalyptic world. Hamm and Clov seem to be the only ones left alive and appear to be forced to stay in their home. Clov is Hamm’s caretaker due to Hamm being bound to a wheelchair and being blind. In this scene of the play Hamm has ordered Clov to look out the window as he does throughout the play. Clov warns Hamm that this will be the last time he will look out of the window since he is tired of only seeing death when he looks. When Clov finally looks out of the window he tells Hamm and also us readers that he has spotted a little boy. This scene of the play connects to a movie called Snowpiercer. This movie is also post apocalyptic and everyone who has survived is stuck on a train. There are two sections of the train, which is the front and the back and doors and guards separate them. The rich are in the front and the poor are forced to stay in these horrible conditions in the back of the train. They are told to never leave the train due to the world being an ice land. In the movie there is one person in particular who wants to leave the train and constantly looks out of the window for signs of life. He too spots life outside, which is a polar bear, but is unable to act upon what he sees and decides to tell no one else about it.
    What is different about these two pieces of work is that in the end of Snowpiercer the man who spotted the polar bear tells his daughter and she decides to leave the train and will try to survive. In Endgame even though Clov has claimed to see a small boy and gets dressed to leave, he doesn’t. Us readers do not know for sure why Clov does not leave, but it seems to be due to a weird love that he has for Hamm and his unwillingness to leave him alone. This also relates to the power dynamics between Hamm and Clov.
    In Endgame Hamm and Clov continue to exchange who has the power in different scenes. For instance Clov has the power in the scene when he claims to have spotted a boy. He is the only one really able to see and can take advantage of that, yet Hamm has power because even though Clov spots life he doesn’t leave Hamm. In the movie Snowpiercer the man who spots the polar bear seems to be at an advantage and have the power, yet the rich and front of the train people have the power to hold him back from leaving. Clov and the man who spotted the polar bear seem to have a lot in common. They both spot life in this post apocalyptic setting, but are held back by the power of others.

    Comment by l.maxe on April 6, 2015

    This first introducing conversation sets the stage for how the relationship between Clov and Hamm will continue throughout the play. Their relationship resembles the relationship between Basil and Sybil from the old British series Faulty Towers from 1975. As both plays are written in the genre of “theater of the absurd” they are similar in the way they build conversations, stages, and story-lines. The stage is set in one single room in Endgame, as the stage in Faulty Towers is built in one single hotel. Here is where the interactions between the different characters happen, and similar to each other the interactions are often absurd and irrational. Just as this conversation between Clov and Hamm plays out, without any reason, logic, or clear-cut path, so does the conversation in many of the scenes in Faulty Towers between Basil and Sybil. The characters are in between rude and condescending towards each other and still leave an undertone of depending and affection, even though you sometimes have to look deep to find it. Basil and Sybil, just as Hamm and Clov, could leave each other to stop this back and forth insults and remarks but all of them choose not to, making the reader understand that the relationship is built upon this way of communicating, and it’s in this communication they convey their dependent feelings upon each other. This following excerpt shows a conversation between Basil and Sibyl that resembles the introduction to Clov and Hamm, showing irrational speech and the two characters bouncing insults and comments of each other as a way to continue their conversation.
    Basil Fawlty: [Frantically typing at a typewriter] He’s out! He’s flat out! So André’s, uh…
    Sybil Fawlty: Who is?
    Basil Fawlty: What!
    Sybil Fawlty: Who ls out?
    Basil Fawlty: Kurt! Who do you think, Henry Kissinger?
    Sybil Fawlty: What do you mean ‘Out’?
    Basil Fawlty: He’s *Drunk*!
    Sybil Fawlty: Drunk?
    Basil Fawlty: Drunk! Soused! Potted! Inebriated! Got it?
    Sybil Fawlty: I don’t believe it.
    Basil Fawlty: [Still typing frantically] Neither do I. Perhaps it’s a dream.
    [Smacks his head three times on desk]
    Basil Fawlty: No, it’s not a dream; we’re stuck with it. Right!
    Sybil Fawlty: Are you still here, Basil?
    Basil Fawlty: No, I went a couple minutes ago, dear, but I expect I’ll be back shortly.
    Sybil Fawlty: Are you going to do the car?
    Basil Fawlty: In a moment, my little piranha fish.
    Sybil Fawlty: [a party of four cancels its dinner reservation] One of them’s ill
    Basil Fawlty: Well, let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.
    Sybil Fawlty: [with only four people attending the grand opening of Gourmet Night] I should never have let you write that advert. Fancy putting “no riff-raff.”
    Sybil Fawlty: Can I help?
    Basil Fawlty: Yes. Go and kill yourself!

    Comment by ag165372 on April 6, 2015

    It’s towards the end of the play and Hamm (maybe ruminating over the possibility of his companion/nemesis Clov, leaving him once and for all) dives into a lengthy aside about the endgame of existence.  In probing the diminutive set of alternatives that lie before his seemingly fruitless life, he concludes his aside by whining “Moment upon moment, pattering down, like the millet of grains of… that old Greek, and all life long you wait for that to mount up to a life.” 
    The line is as close to a climax as Beckett is willing to steer.
    Hamm is suggesting that every moment of life is miniscule and mute; and in the context of the rest of the play, each of these miniscule deaf moments add up to a predetermined fate- a cold lonely death (sometimes at the bottom of an ashbin).
    This is not however, a damning verdict.
    Au contraire, Beckett is freeing the reader from any weight they have attributed to the meaningless forced march with which they are subjected.  As silly as Clov looks climbing up and down his stairs, or Hamm appears petting his three-legged stuffed dog- such is the tragic comedy of all of our existences.  In conceding as much, one is relieved of duty.
    If individual moments are trivial, and the end is already established, as an individual piece of a giant mosaic, you are free to explore.  You are free to create.  You are free to fail, and the consequences of such are not grandiose, haunting, or meaningful. 
    This is a beautiful thing! And that is the comedy of this play.  While the reader (or audience) may find Hamm and Clov’s maniacal and frustratingly neurotic relationship comical, the joke that Beckett is telling is that this is the everyman-stuck in his empty, futile routine. 

    Comment by kw154267 on April 6, 2015

    Beckett references ancient Roman and Greek mythology in referring to the Roman goddess Ceres (1245) and a three legged dog. In Greek mythology Cerberus is a three headed dog who guards the underworld and separates the living and the dead. In myths its three heads often represent the past, present and future. In drawing a parallel to Cerberus, Beckett evokes the themes of life, old age, and death. In his use of a three legged toy dog, Beckett reiterates the conditions of the dystopian world in which Hamm and Clov live. They are stuck in a world of decay; death surrounds them. They have a useless, crippled toy dog in contrast to the powerful, intimidating monster that is Cerberus. As the characters reference their world as having used to be more lively, one possibility is that the three-legged toy dog is the diminished Cerberus, and that without a guard to separate the world of the living and of the the dead, there is nothing left but death.

    The use of a dog also symbolizes loyalty and submission, both of which Clov encompass. Hamm gives short, specific instructions to Clov, such as “Go and get him” and “Try (to make him stand)” much like a master would order around his dog. Yet, it is clear that Clov disobeys Hamm at times by telling him the dog is standing when it has fallen on its side. As in many other points in the play, it is at times ambivalent whether Clov is obeying certain instructions.

    Comment by z.farooqi on April 6, 2015

    Samuel Beckett’s play Endgame first premiered in 1957, exactly twelve years after the end of World War II. Beckett was definitely influenced by the horrific acts that were committed during the war, stripping away people’s humanity and the fabric of nature especially with the completion of the Atom bomb in 1945. The small conversation between Hamm and Clov where Hamm says, “Nature has left us” with Clov replying, “There’s no more nature” has a close connection to how the war had left so much destruction in its wake. This idea of nature being gone is very similar to Hemingway’s novel The Sun also Rises where there the main sense of the book is about sterility and lifelessness which relates to the time period that Hemingway wrote his novel, in 1926, only eight years after World War I. Both Hemingway and Beckett are both similarly influenced by the devastating wars that preceded their works. With the drop of the Atom Bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world got a good look at what happens when nature itself is literally stripped away with the damage that those bombs had done. Beckett in his play already has very stripped down, bare boned characters similar to how the bombs literally stripped down nature and life to where the only remnants of the people caught in it were their shadows burned in the ground, literally stripped away to nothing. Humans, animals, trees, plants, nature itself is reduced to nothing. The lines “Nature has forgotten us” and “There’s no more nature” relate well to how the feeling might have been during the war, the feeling of being stripped away from nature and humanity. Beckett was actually part of the French Resistance against Germany in 1940, though he was just a courier he had seen first hand the barbarity of the war.

    Comment by LATIFAH on April 6, 2015

     
    Here Hamm hesitates to call Clov his son, but I believe that he struggles to come to terms with his mother. Throughout the play most of the people or things are male. Hamm, Clov, Nagg, the boy that Clov sees from the window and even the dog, who has yet to receive his sex are clearly males. The one female within the whole play is left by her son and his servant to die, and receives little to no mourning or a “proper” burial. Hamm mentions his mother once throughout the entire play and briefly mentions her as “my mother”.  When his father mentions his wife, or asks for food to give to her, Hamm ignores or yells at him. It’s quite clear that females have no role in this play, and it has everything to do with Hamm’s mommy issues.
     
    Like Christian Grey from the Trilogy 50 Shades of Grey, both the protagonist have relationship issues with their mothers. Hamm only communicates with the males in his life, and barely bats an eye at the death of his mother. Christian feels the need to dominate all of the women that he has sexual encounters with, due to his traumatic experiences with his mother. Both Christian and Hamm like to dominate in the relationships that they have. Unlike Christian, Hamm must dominate through strictly conversation and power. However, both characters lack emotions, which in some cases can be empathy towards others or affection. They both have a hard time admitting certain things about themselves, or even expressing it. This must come from their mommy issue. A mother is usually someone that protects her children, shows them a ton of affection and expresses a countless number of emotions. Their mothers probably didn’t express enough emotions or never got the chance to.
     

    Comment by vg167241 on April 6, 2015

    Samuel Beckett carefully designed the setting of the play to remind the reader of the ultimate endgame: death. The setting includes a bare interior with gloomy, grey lighting. Two small windows are placed high up with the curtains drawn. Next to the door lies two ashbins, both are covered with an old sheet.  In the center of the room, Hamm is seated in an arm chair. The set design is shaped in the image of a skull. This visual can be depicted by the two windows as eyes, the two ashbins as nostrils, and Hamm’s seated position as the mouth. Beckett’s set design allows the reader to infer a dark ending from the opening scene. Vincent van Gogh’s painting of Skull with Burning Cigarette is a parallel to the setting of Endgame, a clear representation of the inevitable. Van Gogh’s image is of a skeleton smoking a cigarette. The skull represents decay and the withering of a deceased body. The smoking of a cigarette is also symbolic of death, due to the fatal effects it has on the human body. Van Gogh’s painting is dark and bare, much like the setting of this play. The set design of Endgame is to provide the audience with a visual representation of death, while Van Gogh’s painting portrays the psychical representation of death.

     

     

    Comment by ds113820 on April 6, 2015

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    In this line Beckett expose’s Ham’s desire to escape. Ham’s sudden dream, however, quickly fades with the daily routine of killing pain. This line also provides a biblical reference, pointing to the story of Noah’s Ark, in which Noah is commanded by God to build an ark that will save humanity from an encroaching flood. In this case Ham is warning Clov of the impending doom that is death, and recommends that they escape before it happens.
    Ham chooses to “go south”, interpreted as an idiom this means that he wants to escape, and break free from his current life. This is comparable to many groups in history who have fled their land in search of freedom, and other opportunities. The search for mammals indicates Ham’s willingness to commingle with others, and begin a new life. Surprisingly, Clov disagrees, yet this does not stop Ham’s desire to go. However, he is dependent on Clov to build the ship, once again demonstrating the symbiotic relationship they have.
    The line exposes the struggle which Ham faces, he is dying to get away, but has his habits, and disability holding him back. In this way the human condition is a complicated one; it can envision hypothetical goals with great clarity, yet at the same time curtail that person from ever achieving those goals.
    Additionally, for an auditory look into Ham’s state of mind, the song “Chained to the couch” By: The Devil Makes Three helps illustrate the possible struggle that Ham is faced with when he desires to “sail away” from his current situation. The singer is chained to couch, and explains that his frustration should make him scream but “he ain’t got those tears no more” similar to Ham coming to terms with his lack of mobility.

    Comment by ds113820 on April 6, 2015
    Comment by ds113820 on April 6, 2015

     

    In this line Beckett expose’s Ham’s desire to escape. Ham’s sudden dream, however, quickly fades with the daily routine of killing pain. This line also provides a biblical reference, pointing to the story of Noah’s Ark, in which Noah is commanded by God to build an ark that will save humanity from an encroaching flood. In this case Ham is warning Clov of the impending doom that is death, and recommends that they escape before it happens.

     

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    Ham chooses to “go south”, interpreted as an idiom this means that he wants to escape, and break free from his current life. This is comparable to many groups in history who have fled their land in search of freedom. The search for mammals indicates Ham’s willingness to comingle with others, and begin a new life. Surprisingly, Clov disagrees, yet this does not stop Ham’s desire to go. However, he is dependent on Clov to build the ship, once again demonstrating the symbiotic relationship they have. The line exposes the struggle which Ham faces, he is dying to get away, but has his habits, and disability are holding him back.

    In this way the human condition is a complicated one; it can envision hypothetical goals with great clarity, yet at the same time curtail that person from ever achieving those goals.

    Additionally, For an auditory look into Ham’s state of mind, the song “Chained to the couch” By: The Devil Makes Three helps illustrate the possible struggle that Ham is faced with when he desires to “sail away” from his current situation. The singer is chained to couch, and explains that his frustration should make him scream but “he ain’t got those tears no more” similar to Ham coming to terms with his lack of mobility.

     

     

    Comment by vq156822 on April 6, 2015

    When Hamm says “Me to play”, it’s like saying, “my turn to play”. In context to the title, “Endgame”, we can safely assume that this is his final, if not THE final, turn in… Whatever game that he’s playing. Now, the overall feeling of the whole play is weariness. The players of the game all feel mentally and physically exhausted, as if they had been jousting with each other for a long time. Who the players are is open to interpretation. Perhaps it could be the characters Clov and Hamm and the power dynamic between the two persons, or it could be life and death, where Hamm, Clov, Nagg and Nell all feel death approaching, and yet instinctively struggle to live. Think of the words Endgame and “Me to play” as, say, a game in StarCraft. In a 1-v-1 match (or better yet, a Free-For-All match), each player is tasked with the mission to build an indestructible army to completely annihilate their opponent. All the players have no one but their own skill and luck to depend on, and if they screw up, they have no one to blame but themselves. With this in mind, Clov, Hamm, Nagg, and Nell live in a secluded area, separated from society (or are living in a post-apocalyptic era), with no one to depend on. While they depend on each other, it’s like depending on your army to open fire onto an approaching hostile army without explicitly ordering them to do so. As the game drags on, the mental and physical condition of every player worsens. One must understand that in a standard game of StarCraft, you’ll witness your army get torn apart over and over again, until one of them gains a tactical advantage and handles his/her army better. As the name “Endgame” implies, it seems as if Hamm had been playing his game for a very, very long time, and thus is very exhausted.

    Comment by s.mercurio on April 6, 2015

    The title endgame is like the expression, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” Meaning, that no one knows what their destiny will be. We can choose different paths in life but we still don’t know what the outcome will be. For example, Clov always tells Hamm how he wants to leave him, but he can never come to a final decision as far as we know to leave Hamm forever. You can think of Endgame as a relationship gone bad. The endgame never comes until one person decides to leave the relationship. Until then it is just like a revolving door, never ending. A movie that will you make you better understand what the meaning of Endgame is Gone Girl. In Gone Girl, it is a marital horror story, where both the husband and wife make moves to deceive one another. All in all, there is no endgame in Gone Girl, the husband and wife end in a stalemate.
     

    Comment by Muhammad Javed on April 6, 2015

    Clov is the humble servant and Hamm is the wise master. For many people, this is probably an accurate description of each character. But it cannot be that easy, Beckett is unlike any other play writer; he simply does not give the reader an easy way out. In this particular dialogue, Hamm repeatedly questions Clov about his father. While this may just be another mind game, Clov senses a bit of opening from the part of Hamm. When Hamm admits that he has been a father to Clov, Clov acknowledges it right away. Traditionally, we know that the role of a servant is to do what has been assigned to him. In the play we see that Clov does everything assigned—nothing more, nothing less. Therefore, Clov’s relationship with Hamm can be seen through a different scope.

    Comment by Muhammad Javed on April 6, 2015

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    Throughout the play, Hamm is seen telling Clov his biographical story. In this particular dialogue, when he mentions a boy, we see the parallel between Clov’s story (which isn’t told) and Hamm’s aforementioned child. One can see this as a confession as Hamm’s story is slowly unwinding. After Hamm mentions the boy and a few minor details, Clov comments saying, “And then he would have grown up”. When Hamm acknowledges this, we see a shift in their relationship; Clov’s curiosity rises and Hamm wants to prolong his story. Clov’s role as a servant shifts to one as Hamm’s mentee, or son.

    Comment by am148373 on April 6, 2015

    The trousers are created by the tailor through continued trial and error, similar to how the world has continued to go through periods of betterment through the guise of war and devastation. The Endgame for each of the two, the trousers and the world, is all the same. Both have gone through much torment to create the end product however, in the eyes of the tailor the pants are perfect, whereas to the customer it is absurd to wait such a long time for a pair of pants. The world, created by GOD, in all its perfection and glory is in ruins but still seen as perfection created in just six days. The story of the trousers emphasizes the repetition towards nothingness that we engage in daily. The repetition drives us in circles until we reach the end Endgame, the point to which we realize we have contributed absolutely nothing and play out the remainder of each day with the knowledge that nothing will come of it.

    Comment by s.mercurio on May 11, 2015

    I like the way this student compared this particular line in the play to what was going on in real life while Samuel Beckett was writing Endgame. I think this student found a way to compare the line, “Nature has forgotten us,” to the devastation of the war during this time brilliantly. This annotation has made me question the play entirely. Now, I am asking myself if this play could possibly have many aspects of World War 2 incorporated throughout that I didn’t realize.

    Comment by gv167447 on May 14, 2015

    I agree with the student , Mercurio, that we are never certain about where our life will go next. With Hamm and Clov, no matter how hard it gets and how they go back and forth, they know they can depend on each other. Although it doesn’t state how long they’ve been with each other, you can tell they’ve been stuck with each other for a while. Clov tells Hamm that he will leave him, but he has stuck it out and has stayed. The endgame in the context of a relationship is when it all ends; when someone calls it quits. But the beauty of it is in the effort to make things work. The play doesn’t mention if Clov really leaves but he gets ready to walk out. How hard would it be to just walk out on someone because you get tired of it all? How hard is it to abandon someone whose entire life depends on you and you depend on them for company?

    Comment by z.farooqi on May 20, 2015

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    I agree completely with the parallels that Y.Li made between the relationship of Hamm and Clov compared to Tom and Jerry. Though they might not always enjoy the back and forth routine between them, they know that they need each other. The relation to Tom and Jerry was a great way to really give students a simple and relatable way of remembering how the relationship between Hamm and Clov was. The link to the actual video was also a great way for us to get a visual representation of that dynamic. It’s very similar in the fact that when you get down to it Tom and Jerry don’t really have anybody else but each other similar to Hamm and Clov who don’t have anyone but each other and they need each other to fill that routine. This comparison was spot on and will allow students to get a good idea of the relationship and have some context before even reading the play.

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