— Anonymous
“Endgame” by Samuel Beckett is one of many literary texts that I don’t understand. When I first read the play, I was quite confused by the situation the characters are in. I did not understand the theme or purpose of this play because there was a lot of repetition that seemed absurd. This type of play is new to me because it does not have a standard structure that I am used to when reading plays. It contains only 4 characters and it’s mainly just 2 of them that does all the talking. The setting never changes, and it is always the same room with the two windows. While I was reading the part where they described Hamm with a bloody handkerchief over his face, I felt a little creeped out. It is not usual to want to cover your own face with something as dirty as a blood-stained handkerchief and the smell is probably terrible too. At first, I felt like I would not be able to appreciate the play and would not read in my free time because I could not wrap my brain around the purpose. However, I did feel like I was able to understand the play and start to appreciate it a little after watching some videos and reading classmates’ discussion posts. Through Professor Pasquesi’s video, I realized that the play’s situation is similar to how our lives are right now during this pandemic. I never thought of my life as being repetitive because it feels like we are doing something different every day, but in reality that’s not the case. The moment I wake up, I would check my phone and do my things in the bathroom. Then, go to my desk to start work or watch shows. When lunch time comes, I would eat and then go back to my laptop. This cycle continues every day and is even more repetitive since we are home 24/7. Just like the characters in the play have to pass time, I also have to pass time by repeatedly doing such actions. Hamm and Clov’s relationship is an interesting one because they don’t have the typical master-slave power dynamic. Hamm is wheelchair-bound and is blind, so he has to rely on Clov, who is able to see and walk. Clov relies on Hamm for food. At the same time, they also rely on each other to pass their days. Their constant bickering is what keeps them entertained. It’s quite similar to how I would bother my little brother when I have nothing better to do, which I do often now that we are home 24/7. I don’t have to talk to him about anything important, but I just want to get some reaction out of him to waste both of our time. Since I could not understand what was going on by reading the play, I also watched the play. Through watching the play, I realized how weird it was for Nagg and Nell to be in bins. The actors portraying them were ghostly pale and skinny and the way they were treated made me feel bad for them. The posts that my classmates have posted have also helped me tremendously to understand the text and to develop my writing ideas. From the posts I saw that many of them also felt that Nagg and Nell were treated like trash. I think many of us feel uncomfortable with the way they are treated because we were always told to respect the elderly while we were growing up. When we grow older, we should be the ones taking care of them. We are not supposed to be putting our parents in trash bins and closing the bins when they are not needed anymore. Nagg and Nell do not seem to have any complaints about it, but it just made me feel more sympathy for them because it seems like they have accepted their faith. I think the way they were portrayed also emphasizes the power dynamic between Hamm and his parents. Hamm has to be in the center of the room, while his parents are placed to the side in bins where they are not seen unless called upon. Nagg and Nell have no authority and are treated like pets.
