Waiting for Godot

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The Contrast in the Relationships between Characters in Waiting for Godot
The play is a tragicomedy by renowned avant-garde Irish author, Samuel Beckett who has enjoyed acclaimed success; including recognition as the most significant English language play of the 20th century. Its main characters are to wit: Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, Lucky, a boy and the anticipated titular individual only named as Godot, who never arrives. The author successfully spelled out various relationships between the characters in the play.
Perhaps the most prominent being that between Vladimir and Estragon; a relationship that is clear-cut although with an oxymoronic undertone. First, the author implicitly depicts the two characters as class equals. Their dressing, albeit not too elaborately described, implies that they were of equal if not slightly different social standing (Madden). For instance, both characters wear bowler hats and interchangeably so. None of them seems to hold his regalia in so high a regard that he cannot share with the other. Also, the two characters are often depicted as chaplinesque-type tramps. Another critical aspect of the relationship is just how symbiotic it can be. The characters often engage in conduct which outlines the mutual benefit accrued from their continued interaction. A perfect example of this is as regards memory loss, whereas Estragon continually forgets, Vladimir never tires to remind him. This relationship is paradoxical, and this is clear from the somewhat strange connection that they adopt.

Their continued relation has its basis on fear of loneliness and a critical inability to connect owing to the glaring disparity in their respective levels of intellect.
Another salient relationship is that between Pozzo and Lucky which is better clear-cut than the preceding one. It is one that can be described by any series of adjectives depicting dominance. Indeed, an array of descriptive phrases are in use to explain them. These range from ‘father-son’ to ‘master-slave.’ It is clear that one of the characters, Pozzo, enjoys as predominant existence over Lucky whom he, in turn, depends on for assistance in movement in the successive acts when he loses his sight (Wright). These two are bound together by both clear-cut definitions and by an imaginary and metaphorical attachment which sees them sail through the plot.
In light of the preceding, it is clear that there is a stark contrast between the two pairs of characters and this is of untold significance. Perhaps the most significant of this is that it shows the potential of growth in relationships with well-defined boundaries (Charlie et al. 107). This inference is evident from the fact that many aspects of the lives of Vladimir and Estragon are repetitive and in many ways static owing to their indifference whereas the lives of Pozzo and Lucky are mostly dynamic as they sail through the acts.

Work Cited
Charlier, Philippe, and Saudamini Deo. “Neurological inspiration in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.” The Lancet Neurology 16.2 (2017): 108.
Madden, Ed. “Thinking Out Loud: on dangerous books, difficult stories, different lives.” South Carolina Libraries 1.2 (2015): 5.
Wright, Ryan. “Gender and Power in Waiting for Godot.” The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English 18.1 (2016): 3.