Endgame Review/#32

Having a chance to watch the play Endgame was really enjoyable and exciting. Written by Samuel Beckett, this play was a perfect absurd, which combined the process of exploring the meaning of life as well as the existence of distorted love. Endgame came out after Beckett experienced the World War II, so the tone of the play was really depressing, although there were many entertaining elements throughout the play.

On my way to the theater, I started thinking about how the play would be like. The title of the play gave me a direct image of "the end of the game", which did not really make any sense to me. After entering the theater and sitting down, I looked around, noticing that the stage and its surrounding were dark and rough----two simple windows that one faces to the Earth and the other to the sea, two trash cans with dust, and some broken furniture laying around the stage. When the play stated, Clov, the servant, pushed the wheelchair with a bed sheet covering something and then stopped it in the middle of the stage. Then he climbed up and down to reach the windows and saw the outside world using his lame legs. There were four characters in total: Hamm, the blind who couldn't stand or move, Clov, the servant of Hamm who couldn't sit, and Nagg and Nell, the parents of Hamm who lived in the trash cans and could never touch each other.

During the play, Hamm was always a predominant character. He talked a lot and so loudly that scared the audience for many times. He was a strong character with a demanding feature, and he liked to ask Clov to do everything for him. Also, he kept asking some questions that drove Clov to crazy. But to dig inside, Hamm couldn't see anything and was definitely afraid of Clov would leave him alone. This was also another strange form of love----the love between Hamm and Clov. In their relationship, Hamm was fully dependent on Clov. He needed Clov to support ther daily life. Clov worked for Hamm not only because he wasn't able to leave, but also he still appreciated that Hamm adopted him when he was young. They were just like the father and the son, although "the father" was never good to "the son". What was interesting was that Clov complained a lot about Hamm and kept saying "I'll leave. I have things to do", but actually he never left until the last time he said this. Clov was submissive physically but always rebellious psychologically. Their distorted love was not so obvious as the love between Nagg and Nell. The old couples were deeply in love with each other. When they first showed up, they tried to kiss even though it was really hard for them touch each other. Nagg was talkative but also funny; Nell was patient and kind. Unlike Hamm and Clov, Nagg and Nell respected each other. In contrast, Hamm and Clov were usually in a bad mood; both of them were emotionally, especially when Clov's legs were getting worse and he could not bear it any more.

In the play, Hamm always wanted to know what time it was and how the outside world looked like, so he asked Clov to see again and again. There was a time when Clov answered that there was a boy outside of the house. Wheter the boy did exist remained unclear to us, but what I though was that the boy might be a reflection of Clov's ideal life. The boy was free and was able to touch the outside world. Clov was desperately struggling, and when he ultimately left, he did not say "I'll leave. I have things to do" any more.

After experiencing Nell's dead and Clov's disappearment, Hamm's interior exploring finally got to an answer: life is meaningless. And he was always alone. "Endgame" actually means the death.However, what most impressed me was the relationship between Hamm and Clov. They revealed that love is dependency.