The interpretation of objects in Beckett's works

Beyond any symbolism, we can say that the objects despite becoming meaningless have meaning implication. Often, there is a tendency that connects Beckett's Theatre to the
Thursday, February 2, 2017
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author: علی اکبر مظاهری
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The interpretation of objects in Beckett's works
The interpretation of objects in Beckett's works

 

Translated by: Ahmad Ismaeil Abadi
Source: rasekhoon.net



 

Philosophical implications of objects and spaces
Beyond any symbolism, we can say that the objects despite becoming meaningless have meaning implication. Often, there is a tendency that connects Beckett's Theatre to the philosophy that Sartre and Camus had raised. In other words, beyond any symbolism and implications, the gestures and meticulous attention that the characters to explore show for the basic objects that the characters show to discover basic objects or talk about them may contain philosophical implications. In this respect, these unnecessary and meaningless gestures to the objects at first glance, considering their tempting and regarding their verbal signs that suddenly appears beside other confusing gestures appear are pores that guide us toward a deeper level of meaning. For example, at the end of the controversy that about carrot and turnip breaks out between Vladimir and Estragon, at the end of this conversation that linguistic signs without any order and irrelevantly precedes each other. Vladimir suddenly uses a neutral, general and indefinite pronoun "this" gives a pervasive aspect to his thoughts and draws us from physical of interaction on carrots and turnips to the deep philosophical meaning. This really is meaningless? This "may refer to the totality of being. In other words, futility of details suddenly extends as far as philosophical issues.
At the end of the game, the meticulous and tempting attention to the very trivial objects and characters highlights futility of movements, gestures and personality treatments. For example, Claw to find a place where to put an alarm clock begins to move and turn around the scene and inspect the Panel; he lowers the clock instead puts it. His movements like a doll puppet which continuously spinning around in a way, the contradictory of sequence movements sometimes is representing the oneness of acts that are not in the same sense. However, removal, wearing and throwing the glasses despite of describing the movements has made the departed actions equal and to some extent denying the diagnosis of meaningful actions.
In, "Oh what good days!" , from one side , we see the meaningful conflict between narrowly attention of Viennese to everyday objects control and trivial and on the other hand , there are his thoughts about the meaninglessness of existence. So, he inspects his bag without any clear purpose; without any purpose, for no, no aim in life". In fact, there are just objects "there is bag; that is just "there" without any meaning that is clearly mentioned and no logic. But, it also has its own, independent life, strange and stressful life. Vinnie says: objects have their own lives "like a mirror that reflects back independently and to reflect it the man is not needed.
However, the characters in Beckett's works always deal with objects; they examine them, move them, touch them with hand, laying them down and look carefully at them. The objects in the absence of active audience, play the role of the active characters, so by interacting with it, the characters forget their silence and solitude. Vinnie says "what do I do without objects, when words leave me alone." In fact, things beyond the comic and dramatic role has communicative role and are replaced with words and speech. Thus, between verbal exchange and the exchange of objects such as hats and shoes in the play waiting for Godot there is parallel connections. So, the empty and repetitive exchange of words becomes the symmetry of repetitive gesture and vain exchanging of objects and the disorder of the system is moving sign from one direction and anarchy of the system on the other hand, converts the display space to a tense and Gothic atmosphere.
In Beckett Theater, the body motions, such as sign language suffers clutter in order to reduce their facilities to the lowest. Therefore, as the repetition of a sound or a sentence leads to meaning disintegration, repetitions of motion and gesture ends to automatic forms. But the characters' interaction with the words is in conflict with their relationship with objects. So, the words put the characters all alone. Winnie: "words leave you alone. Yes, they leave you "but the characters without objects are nothing and their existence depends on their insistently presence. In fact, "their having" means "their being" and the objects push them away of silence and loneliness. For Lucky, having caps are meant thinking and speaking, because he can not think without a hat, and when Vladimir takes off his hat, Lucky is not talking and falls and just when comes around that takes his suitcase in hand. When Lucky's hat is on, he breaks his silence and begins to talk with his own. In fact, the hat activates his distresses and in other word, gives life to him so, "having objects means identity".
The persistent and stubborn presence of objects in the theater of Beckett has made Eugene Ionesco to consider his theater as a "visual theater"; a theater where "objects taken to game and is given life them; a theatre where ideas can be brought into concrete picture.
Conclusion
We can introduce fixed and common structural model for most of Beckett's works however; in most famous works of Beckett, we face indoor and distressing atmosphere. In this closed space, Beckett-based personality is in the pending and waiting process. So, while waiting, when it is supposed an incident occurs and a doubt is inserted, the body unconsciously appeals to repetition. This repetition occurs in the field of linguistic and movement of the characters and this mechanical and automatic repetition plays the role of killing moment and freezing the time. In fact, repetition changes the body into obedient one, because to make the body submissive, we should not treat it tyrannically but, it can be repeated until the operation becomes mechanical and automatic and changes the human into a tuned doll.
Beckett's message in his works may be that he by creating the works from on one hand we face the surge of linguistic chaos and mass peak floating reasons that does not confirm any meaning certainty and on the other hand, with a moving system that is ceaselessly resumed has entered us into dizzying cycle of the mechanical characters and shares us with their anxiety.
However, Beckett with disorder of signs in his works hinders the way of getting to the true and makes the reader to perceive these chaotic signs to invoke Meta data and actively attends meaning that would be never trapped in semantic determination.

 



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