The short film “Breath” and Samuel Beckett’s endgame both portray the theme of suffering.In Endgame, the character Hamm is blind and disabled in a wheelchair. When Hamm quotes “Can there be misery loftier than mine? No doubt. Formerly. But Now?”, he portrays to the audience that his is suffering from extreme depression. The short film “Breath” can be observed as a person having a really difficult time breathing. In “Breath” and the character Hamm from “Endgame”, both the main characters suffer from physical sufferings. Where Hamm suffers from being blind in wheelchair and the person breathing in breath is suffering from not being able to breath properly. Both these characters can be viewed as miserable characters that are suffering.
-William Dayan
Upon comparing Samuel Beckett’s Endgame to Mallarme’s poem, “The Virginal, Vibrant, and Beautiful Dawn” it can be found that they both represent a dark and gloomy scenario. Similar to how William mentioned above that “Breath” and Endgame portray suffering, it can be seen that this poem also ties into that theme. The line “To rend this hard lake haunted beneath the ice” can be compared to the room the characters in the play are stuck in. The swan in the poem who struggles to resist and eventually, “Though its quivering neck will shake free of the agonies Inflicted on the bird by the space it denies”, seems to represent Clov, as he is always speaking of leaving, and at the end we can imagine that he does. One of the last lines of the poem says “The horror of the earth will remain where it lies.” This shows that no matter if he does leave, the suffering of that room will always be there. This poem can be seen as a parallel to the play by how it represents a dark world.
-Sabera Qazi
As J.P. Sarte, retells his experience on his discovery of the meaning of existence in the paper, “The Chestnut Tree: The Experience of Contingency” , it occurred to me that much like the characters in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, he was saying that existence has no meaning and yet we continue to do it. As he sits down at a park bench and ponders the meaning of existence he claims that once he saw what existence was everything suddenly started to exist too much, everything, even his own life. He thought about killing himself but says “I dreamed vaguely of killing myself to wipe out at least one of these superfluous existences. But even my death would have been superfluous.” Much like the characters in endgame they shared a similair train of thought. As the reader or viewer of Endgame goes through the play they can see how as the play goes one each character is tired of this existence they currently have. Such as when Clov says he’s going to leave because he no longer wants to have to take care of Hamm, however as far as the viewer sees he does not ever actually leave. He stays in that existence that he has much like what Sarte says.
-Brian Baigorria
I agree with Brian on what he said, “Both these characters can be viewed as miserable characters that are suffering.” It can be easily seen that they are both suffering, but what gave me a new light on the way the person from “”Breath” was suffering was when you said he had a disability. I viewed it as potentially someone planned on killing him and left him in the dumps to die, but he didn’t do a good job and is now suffering, having trouble breathing. It is very possible that that person could have a breathing disorder and is suffering because of it.
Hi Sabera!
I too felt as though the poem set up a very dark and gloomy scenario. I felt as though it too was dark and showed how life is constantly searching for a sign to continue. This relates to Endgame because they are constantly in search of a sign to move on. They are in search for hope for something to change. However, since the poem is so gloomy, I feel as though there is no sign to continue. That things will always stay the same. I agree when said “This shows that no matter if he does leave, the suffering of that room will always be there.” This indicates that they will never be able to change anything, and that they will never find this sign to continue.
-Kelly Kay
William – I definitely hear your point about how both the breath from the video, and Hamm’s entire existence in Endgame are indicative of a suffering. In fact, I’d argue that the video was meant to portray Hamm’s breath, because of how exasperated it seemed, much like Hamm throughout the play we watched/read.
William, I like the comparison between the characters in The Endgame and the short film Breath in terms of their physical struggles. Each subject is having trouble with something due to their current state of being and it is out of their control. One thing that came to mind as I read your response was how in both instances we do not know the cause of their suffering nor if it is ever relieved by the end of each work. This ambiguity is important because we solely focus then on how they are feeling as we watch and not why or how it happened.
William- I totally agree with your comparison and the element of physical suffering that exists in both endgame and breath. However, I do believe there is also an element of non physical suffering that takes place in endgame. Granted, you are making a comparison between breath and endgame not breath and another piece but I was wondering if you agreed with me. I would argue that there is no pain worse than physical pain. Psychological issues can be treated but to actually have a nerve response to a physical detriment is horrifying. Although both characters pain may be different, they both are definitely victims of physical pain.