Waiting for... to-morrow?

As I read the Act II of Waiting for Godot, I couldn’t stop  asking myself questions about the characters, and Godot himself. I was expecting to figure it out at the end but that wasn’t the case. However, as I was finishing it, I started to see some similarities between this play and The Stranger.

I had noticed in Act I that Estragon had a bad memory and Vladimir was somewhat saner. I thought it was just a minor thing and that it was probably because he had been beaten some short time before. However as I read Act II I found out it was not only Estragon, but Pozzo, Lucky and the Boy who had a bad memory. Unlike Vladimir, they were only aware of “the today”. This reminded me of Meursault, from The Stranger, who was only worried about the present. For him, the future and the past are meaningless. This is exactly what happens in Waiting for Godot, except they do care about the future. That is precisely the reason why they keep on coming every day to the same place to wait for Godot: A character they are not even certain how he looks like. They have absolutely no sense of time and we find them constantly wondering if it’s dawn of the evening or if it’s today or tomorrow. It also brings back the topic of absurdness: nothing makes sense. 

Samuel Beckett, the author; leaves many questions unanswered. I think that is precisely the whole point of the play, to leave the reader as confused as the characters. Clearly none of them knows what is going on and why they are doing what they do. They are very hostile too, especially with Lucky. I am sure he is a significant figure, however I can’t figure him out. Acting as an “entertainer” during the first act, he is punished several times by Pozzo. During the second act, on the other hand, he doesn’t say a word and is described as dumb. I wonder what exactly is the significance of this character.

I also think Estragon’s boots represent something. They are constantly mentioned throughout the play and every time they are mentioned, Vladimir and Estragon make a big deal out of them. I think in some way they represent imprisonment. They are too tight for Estragon causing him to be hurt, and not allowing him to walk nor to leave. He is trapped in a way, just like he is trapped every day to wait for Godot. They are trapped between the yesterday, the today and the tomorrow. Not knowing if what they think happened the previous day is true or not. Not knowing when will Godot come or if he’ll ever come. Basically, not certain of anything. I believe the boots represent the characters’ imprisonment and confusion.