Godot Paper

Richard Singh

English 1A

November 2nd, 2014

Essay Question: Does Pozzo represent how cruel humanity can be when they hold a lot of power?

The Rope

           Edward Abbey, a famous environmentalist and author, once said, “Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best”. Mr. Abbey is saying that power itself is the root of all problems because as history shows, no one can wield enough due to the fact that it causes major corruption and manipulation. Throughout our history of human existence, those with power have always abused in one way or another in order to benefit themselves. A few examples are for instance Adolf Hitler and The South in the United States. We will start off with Hitler first because Hitler was a single being who had a vast amount of power. Hitler was the dictator of Germany and believed that the world belonged to him. He was on the conquest of taking over all of the territories in Europe and slowly expanding outwards to the whole world. Hitler not only believed he was entitled to the lands of the world, but he also believed that he could control who lived on this Earth. We all know about the infamous Holocaust where Hitler single handedly ostracized the Jewish group and had them all executed. With his power as dictator, he had his group, the Nazis; kill anyone of the Jewish faith. This shows us how power corrupted a man to the point where he believed he could take over the world and kill anyone he didn’t approve of.

           Similarly, back in the 18th, and parts of the 19th, Century it was socially accepted to keep slaves in the United States. Predominantly in the southern region of the United States known as The South, there were many plantation owners who had made use of people from Africa. Instead of treating these people with respect and dignity, these white owners treated them as if they tools or even personal punching bags. Caucasians had this idea of how they were entitled to anyone with dark skin. They believed that they were superior to them in every way such as intelligence, power, and even importance in life. Though today we are all accepted as equal with equal value, it was much more different in our country’s nefarious past. Even the Founding Fathers had slaves. Just like Hitler, white citizens in the South believed that they could control other people’s lives and hurt them if they disobeyed them or if they weren’t similar to them just for their own personal gain.

           Now in the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, we learn about a character named Pozzo who has power over a being, named Lucky, and abuses him in every way possible. In Act I of the play, Pozzo is introduced in the play as slave owner who is headed towards the slave auction because he wants to sell Lucky. As he interacts with the main characters of the play, Vladimir and Estragon, we see how abusive his character is due to the power he holds over Lucky. Through the verbal and physical abuse he demonstrates upon Lucky, it shows how cruel one human being can be to another.

           You may be asking what does Hitler, The South, and Pozzo prove or what connection am I trying to make. Well after reading the play I have realized that Pozzo does in fact represent how cruel humans can be when in power. Hitler and the South are just mere examples of my point. All three have abused and manipulated humans in their own way whether it being physically or even mentally. The character Pozzo, from the play Waiting for Godot, is a representation of how humanity is when given power. Pozzo shows us how our ego and greed can destroy our compassion for others for our own personal gain.

           Pozzo shows us how power can corrupt someone is through his treatment of his slave, Lucky. The main characters of the play, Vladimir and Estragon, had mistaken Pozzo for Godot and question him if he was in fact Godot. After establishing that Pozzo was not Godot, the three start talking in a friendly manner until Pozzo “[jerks the rope]” and says to Lucky “Up pig…Up Hog...Stop...Turn!” (16). Pozzo is showing us how the believes that he can control another human’s life because he has this self-given power over this being. Pozzo is a representation of what slave owners in the South were like when they had slaves. They treated them as if they were just a piece of property that had no soul.

           Similarly, another example related to Pozzo treating those beneath him as if they’re non-existent would be the relationship between the United States government and the Native Americans. Upon their first encounter with each other, Pozzo belittles Lucky in front of Vladimir and Estragon as they were examining Lucky, who was carrying all of Pozzo’s belongings.  Pozzo said to the two men “Be careful! He’s wicked” (14). Pozzo shows us how cruel he is by degrading his slave that’s passed out on the ground due to the exhaustion of carrying all of Pozzo’s belongings. Pozzo treats Lucky like he is nothing of importance and uses him in for his own benefit. Similarly, Native Americans were also mistreated just like Lucky in terms of being treated with no dignity or respect. Aaron Huey, a famous photojournalist and documentary photographer, had spoke on the controversy surrounding Native Americans today. During his televised presentation, America’s Native Prisoners of War, Huey said, “They’re killing each other. They’re killing themselves…this is how we come to own these United States”. Huey goes on to say the causes of the slow extinction of the Native Americans is due to the fact that “more than 90 percent of the population is below the poverty line…[untreated diseases]…[and] alcoholism” (Aaron Huey, “America’s Native Prisoners of War”). Huey is describing how Native Americans are killing themselves off slowly through the use of alcohol and how many are dying of untreated diseases due to the fact majority of Native Americans are in poverty and unable to care for themselves due to the costs of medicine. The United States government does not provide aid to the Native Americans because they gave them pieces of land through treaties and let them have their own authority. Even with the crisis of poverty, America feels like they do not have to help out the dying population of Native Americans because they do not respect them and want them to die out so that they do not look like the villains even though they technically stole their lands and then proceeded to built a nation on top of it. Also not to mention the fact that the lands seized by the United States was taken by force and not just a simple agreement between the white colonists and the Native American leaders.

           Not only does Pozzo represent how corrupted the relationship between the Native Americans and the U.S. Government is, but he also represents the relationship between the United States and it’s “poor” citizens. The book The Rich and the Rest of Us, by authors and social activists Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, talks about how the American government is set up today and how the government makes it very hard for the lower class to sustain themselves and escape poverty because the government is essentially run by the 1% or multi billionaire corporations because they “bribe” these politicians who are supposed to “represent” us. Keep the saying “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours in mind”. In The Rich and the Rest of Us, we learn about a man named Joe, a single father who lives paycheck to paycheck. Joe says, “I do not eat lunch. I drink from the hose at work…you got to sacrifice for your child” (Smiley and West, 122). Joe is saying that he sacrifices food everyday for his son to ensure he is well nourished while he does his best to “live”. Due to low minimum wage laws, many people in the United States are unable to provide for themselves let alone for their family. Though Joe, and many others in his position, is not literally killing himself, he is dying from the sacrifices he makes for his son because of the way the country is set up. Joe is given a limited life where he cannot grow, is stuck in poverty, and cannot crawl out of it. Besides the unjust laws that make it virtually impossible for those in poverty to climb the social ladder, there are those who lean towards violence because they are not taught any better due to the country turning its back on them. Joe could be compared to Lucky from Waiting for Godot as they are both slaves to those who have much more power than them. They both cannot escape their fates of being subservient puppets that are manipulated and abused while their superiors benefit from their lives.

           In conclusion, Pozzo, from the play Waiting for Godot, represents how callous humanity can be when given an absurb amount of power or control over anything. Pozzo illustrates how one’s ego and selfishness can destroy our compassion for others for our own personal gain. Humans today and in the past have all used each other in cruel ways in order to gain and maintain power over others. No one is truly born evil rather they are influenced by it through their surroundings. Confucian philosopher Mencius himself says that human’s nature is innately good upon entering the world. If the United States didn’t have the checks and balances system then who knows how the nation would be today. If we didn’t have the civil rights movement with those seeking justice and equality for all, who knows if people of color would even have a “say” in this country or even the world. This world could’ve been controlled by one race or even one person had there not been a war to eliminate a power hungry dictator who killed anyone in his path in having world dominance. Power can truly change one’s perspective in life. With the more power you have, the more you have to lose and nobody wants to lose anything in life. If faced with something threatening your way of losing something you care about, you will do anything to keep it. Though not everyone who holds a great deal power will abuse it, there will be situations where you have to make selfish choices in order to keep your power. Humanity since the start has always been corrupted and always forgets the true meaning in life, to help others and succeed together. It was Viktor Frankl who said “The meaning of life is to help others find theirs.”

Godot Questions

What does the tree represent?
Does Godot represent happiness?
Is death the last resort to be free from sadness?
Does Didi believe Godot will save him from all that is sad?
Is giving up the best option when things aren't going as planned?
Does Pozzo represent the people in this world that are oblivious of problems around the world?
Why does Pozzo seems more nicer to Lucky in Act 2?
Are both Didi and Gogo wanderers with no permanent residence?
Does the carrot and turnips represent anything?
Is Godot a real being or something something made up? If so, what is this the purpose of this idea?

Character Analysis: Vladimir(Didi)

How do we get to know Vladimir? 
Didi is one of the main characters in the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett . He is introduced in the very beginning of the play. We get to know Didi, Vladimir's nickname in the play, as someone who is very caring of his companion Estragon but also relentless in his pursuit to meet an obscure character named Godot. In the play, Vladimir attempts Estragon every chance they meet but he quickly gets rejected by Estragon. In the beginning of the play, upon meeting each other on a new Didi says to Gogo, Estragon's nickname, "Get up till I embrace you" (1). He is quickly rebuffed by Gogo who says, "Not now, not now" (1). Whilst the play continues until Act 2 where the two meet again on a different day, Didi says, "Come here till I embrace you" (48). Estragon, of course, rejects the offer by saying "Don't touch me" (48). 

How are they like?
Vladimir, throughout the play, seems to be very caring of Estragon. He also seems very obsessed in meeting Godot. Estragon offers the idea of leaving the current land they are in multiple times but Vladmir always responds by saying "We cant...we have to come back tomorrow...go wait for Godot" (83). Though he cares about his companion, it seems like he cares more about meeting Godot. You could say he is a bit cynical.

How are they not like? 
 Vladimir is definitely not like Estragon who seems very uncompassionate of others. He is also seems like he isn't a "follower". He also doesn't seem to be incoherent as his companion.

Anything Else?
None. 

Waiting for Godot Homework

1. Both Waiting for Godot and the YouTube video Powers of Ten show us that humans are oblivious to their surroundings and go by what they see and hear. For instance, in the novel you could easily generalize Godot as being as God. A line from the book that somewhat confirmed my speculation of Godot as being God is the messenger's, the little boy, description of Godot. When asked what color was Godot's beard, the boy says "I think it's white, sir" (82). The description does fit it in with modern depictions of God. Besides the obscure description of God, in Act I when the boy was asked what the mysterious white bearded man did, the boy answered "he minds the sheep" while the boy himself "minds the goats" (43). From what I remember from my Religion class, the Lord is the lamb of God while God himself is the Shepard. So that is also another reason to show us how Godot could be God. So now how does all of this relate to the Powers of 10 video you may ask? Simple, the video itself talks about how there is more to the world than humans know. It tells us about the things we do not know that exist or are outside of our own perceptions but we do believe whatever we are told. The play shows us how two men wait for someone that probably does not exist but are relentless in their pursuit in being of this person's presence. The two men are just like many others who believe in this "idea" which has been preserved for thousands of years.

2. Simply put, Pozzo is a slave owner who seems to be wealthy while Lucky is Pozzo's slave. They are in the play because I feel like they are a reflection of Didi and Gogo. Though they seem to not like each other at all, they are incomplete without each other. Pozzo depends on Lucky to do his tasks for him as Didi is dependent on Gogo's companionship and does not want Gogo to leave his side. Both sets of duo depend on each other.

3. I feel like Didi is different from Gogo because he is more "sensible". He seems like he would be the leader of the two and make the wise decisions. Gogo seemed like a mess to me. He seems to be always injured and Didi is always there protecting him or looking out for him. Didi also seems to be more compassionate as Gogo always lingers around the idea of splitting up or parting ways but Didi does not want that.

4. Honestly, I do not know what the two are talking about as they seem to ramble and repeat themselves a lot. The two seem to be invested in the idea of meeting someone named Godot but do not when or where to meet "Godot".

5. My life can be like Didi's by being very compassionate towards all my friends because I love being around them and never like being alone. Also I can be a leader at times and I feel like Didi was the leader of the two. I can be like Gogo because majority of the times I am a follower and also I am very stubborn and picky.

6. Like I stated in #1, I do think Godot is God or the "idea" that people follow.

7. This play is cynical because it shows how Didi, through Gogo's pleas to leave, is concerned about one thing, meeting Godot. He does not want to do anything else except wait for Godot, which will probably never as the meeting keeps getting postponed. Puzzo is a better example to show how cynical the play is because of exploitation of Lucky for his own gain. Insecure people seem to be very overly cautious of their actions or try to be perfectionists. For instance, someone insecure of their looks will do whatever they can to negate their flaws such as excessive use of makeup in our scenario. The opposite of someone insecure is someone who is confident in themselves and someone who doesn't give a crap about others because they know they're in control of their own lives and not others.

Richard Singh Midterm

Richard Singh

English 1A

October 7, 2014

For The Love of Earth

           “Change in perspective will naturally lead us to begin to control our populations, save our forests, re-create community, and reduce our wasteful consumption”. These are the words of author Thom Hartmann from his book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. Mr. Hartmann is telling us that the way our world, and the societies within it, are setup is purely corrupted. He talks about how the world is slowly collapsing around us in terms of humans using up all the resources in the world without acknowledging the fact that they’re hurting mother nature through the process. The book illustrates that with the rapid rate of consumption by humans, Earth is slowly losing its natural resources because it has to accommodate for the exponential growth of human populations all around the world. It even talks about certain societies in the world facing problems such as famine and poverty due to the fact they do not have the proper resources to sustain themselves or their communities while other areas do have the resources but they use it themselves greedily. Not only do some societies dominate certain resources, but they also waste it when they could be sharing it with communities in dire need of those resources. In today's world, simply put, we have bit off more than we can chew. We have exhausted all of our resources that we have caused an influx of booming populations around the world. Not only have we created a more populated world, but we have also destroyed it by trying to sustain the great populations of the world.

          In part one of the book, Hartmann uses two metaphors to describe how civilization on Earth is slowly headed for disaster. His first metaphor was a short story about an upcoming software company led by four young techies that had the aspiration to develop a word processing program that would essentially make them rich. They had invested all of their savings into the business assuming that it would take. They bought lavish office spaces, company cars, and even premium furniture for their offices to say the least. The company had eventually attracted a few investors raised up a quarter million purely from the investors. Keep in mind the product was still in development so there was no revenue coming from it. With the massive amount of investment money the young programmers had, they increased their salaries and kept adding a plethora of staff to their business. Unfortunately, the young men had run out of cash trying to sustain their lavish lifestyle causing the company to go out of business. All the money the investors had put into the business was gone with no returns. The second metaphor Mr. Hartmann uses to describe the disastrous future for our civilization is the Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent tactic that scams investors by making them invest into a company through persuasion. Investors are told that by investing into these scam companies they will receive large sums of money. The way it’s setup is that the operator of the scheme makes investors invest into the company and they are paid back with capital gained from new investors instead of the profits made by the operator. If there aren’t any new investors then the scheme falls apart because you will not have money to pay back the previous set of investors. You are basically out of your resources. . I personally believe our civilization is more like the hopeful software company. The hopeful software company shows us that our civilization is exhausting all the resources Earth had supplied us with. Due to our greed, we are burning those resources at an accelerated rate since we are using and wasting those resources more than we should be.

           Currently, Earth is facing the dilemma of overpopulation in many nations around the world. With the discovery of oil, human populations have increased heavily due to the ability to create large quantities of food.  According to Hartmann, “with the massive leap in our food supply…our planet’s population [went] from…one billion humans around the time of the discovery of oil to two billion” (Hartmann, 14). Hartmann also goes on to say that it “had taken us 200,000 years to produce our first billion…and 130 years to produce our second billion, [while] the third billion took just 30 years” (Hartman, 14). Since the discovery of oil, Earth’s population has been increasing rapidly. Hartmann shows us that due to oil, we’ve created more food supplies, which then caused more and more people to reproduce causing a growth in population. With more food being produced, our population has increased abundantly.

        Now with the creation of great amount of foods, there are some problems that accompany it. According to the Deforestation group, in order to produce food, farmers destroy Earth’s forests “to make fields of grass for cattle” and that nearly “60% of the world’s agriculture land is used for beef production” (Deforestation Group, 2014).  With the eradication of forests, Earth and its inhabitants are succumbing to danger. Without forests, all of the greenhouse gases that the trees absorb will be released into our atmosphere causing abnormal temperatures. Forests are also the source for our fresh oxygen supplies and with trees being cut in order to feed humans; we are slowly killing ourselves by slowly eliminating our fresh oxygen supplies.

        Similarly to our deforestation epidemic, due to an overcrowding population, Earth is losing its fresh water supply. Water is becoming so sparse that there have been talks of privatizing water for the rich. According to TLHAS, “the U.N. says that over a billion people lack access to fresh drinking water…since only about one-half of 1 percent of the planet’s water is drinkable and accessible” (Hartmann, 103). It is predicted that the “human need for fresh water will outstrip the…planet’s replenishable supply by 2025” (Hartmann, 103). With the high demand of water to sustain lives around the world, Earth is slowly losing its supply. Without water, Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest comes into fruition where many of the rich nations will be able to retain an ample supply of water while the poorer nations will die off because of the lack of water. According to the Water group, it takes about “2400 Liters of water to create a hamburger” (Water Group, 2014). They also state that the “U.N. suggests that we need 20-50 Liters of water a day for essentials such as cooking, drinking, and cleaning” (Water Group, 2014). We have the ability to save water in this world but it seems like there is a higher demand of creating hamburgers to sustain lives than water. With the pollution of industries and cutting of trees, our fresh water supplies are being contaminated with pollution from acidic rain and sewage waste. Without water, humans will not have the ability to live since water is an essential component to our lives.

        With forests and water sources being cut down for corporate profit, you may be wondering why haven’t you heard about this from your trusted source, the media. The media is ran by the same people who are hurting these environments and who also support the growing populations of the world because it generates more money in their pockets. According to the TV group, the “media is currently controlled by 6 corporations” (TV Group, 2014). These media companies all have the right to air what they want and distort facts or omit parts of the truth in order to keep the world the way it is, corrupted. They tell you to buy their products because it will supposedly benefit you when in reality they do not tell you that you’re buying something that holds no value but it did take a lot of Mother Nature’s limbs in order to create it. Hartmann tells us about how “One of the nation’s largest and most conservative news organizations successfully argued in court that it had the right to force its reporters to lie in the evening news, and one of the world’s largest athletic shoe manufacturers argued before the Supreme Court…that is should have the right to lie in its public relations” (Hartman, 220). This shows us how much distortion there is in the media and how the media really care about the general public. They’d rather lie to you than tell you what’s really happening because they know what they’re doing to our environment is wrong but they do not want to create a uproar from the masses because then they will lose money. It is purely out of greed that these companies are doing what they are doing, such as cutting down the amazon so that McDonald’s can have more paper covers for their burgers.

        With the current way humans are abusing Earth, it wont be long until it collapses like the great civilizations before the modern era. It is odd how history always finds a way to repeat itself but with the current ways of humans abusing Earth and her resources, it wont be long until the future descendants realize how we were just another civilization who bit off more than they could chew. Hartmann talks about two civilizations that collapsed due to similar circumstances. Hartmann first talks about how the “Greeks adopted widespread agricultural practices…[which] increased food supply…[causing the] Greeks to begin clearing …their forests to provide living space, fuel, and cropland for their ever-growing population”…”The decline of their civilization is linked…to their population outstripping their available fuel: wood” (Hartmann, 108). Hartmann shows us how a great civilization met it’s inevitable demise due to the eradication and exhaustion of their natural resources. Not only did the Greek succumb to their own man made misfortunes, but also another great civilization, the great Roman Empire. Hartmann says that, “forests of what we call now were all wiped out to meet the Romans needs” (Hartmann, 108). In addition to wiping out forests to sustain their great civilization, “Roman croplands began to collapse…food shortages threatened the stability of the Roman Empire...Ultimately, Rome’s watershed destruction, deforestation, depleted soil, and booming population led to widespread famines, resulting in the collapse of the Roman Empire” (Hartmann, 109). Similarly to the Greeks the mighty Roman Empire was not so mighty anymore because they couldn’t beat Mother Nature. With the abuse the world has faced from past civilizations, the modern day civilization is no different and will fall just like the great civilizations before it.

        In conclusion, the world is beyond its capacity of housing humans. Not only are we responsible for creating the great populations of the world because of our advancement in technology and newfound resources, but were also the primary cause of destruction for Earth. With the destruction of forests, pollution of air and water, and the allowance of greed to control our society, we humans of the 21st century will face the same fate of those before us. With many being oblivious or ignorant towards the fact that our world is overpopulated, we need to all realize that our "free ride" on Earth may soon be over with the way we are abusing every aspect of "her". We must think and know about the long term effects of our actions because "putting it off" simply won't cut it as we are wasting our resources or using them greedily when we could be sharing with parts of the world that are in dire of need of these particular resources. I for one firmly believe that history in one way, or another, repeats itself. As it did for the powerful Syrian and Roman empires, the United States and many other top nations will soon become nothing but an example of rich nations falling to their inevitable demise.As said in Ozymandias, sonnet about the fall of great empires, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains...the lone and level sands stretch far away".

Midterm Thesis

In today's world, simply put, we have bit off more than we can chew. We have exhausted all of our resources that we have caused the influx of booming populations around the world. Not only have we created a more populated world, but we have also destroyed it by trying to sustain the great populations of the world.


Topics that could connect: Overpopulation, Deforestation, Climate Change, Old Culture vs New

Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein's interview with Democracy Now! did not have any relevant information for me to incorporate within my group's topic, overpopulation.

Though she had an interesting point on how climate change is affecting the world's fertility rate. A good quote:

"Climate change was playing out in the natural world is also often as a fertility crisis, that we were making the world less fertile, whether we’re making the soil less fertile, whether we’re deliberately making seeds less fertile so that they can be patented and owned, or simply that warming temperatures and acidifying oceans are wreaking havoc on many species’ ability to reproduce"

Overpopulation.

Earth currently houses 7.125 billion people. With the resources we have today, we can only support up to 3 billion people. That leaves a littler over 4 billion out of resources or struggling to find resources.While some may argue that Earth can support up to 9 billion people, that still doesn't justify the fact that we will all have access to the same resources because we barely have that today. We are currently exhausting all of our resources today and are not thinking of our future generations due to our impulsive desires. With the lifestyle many rich nations live in today, our natural resources will deplete. With the booming growth rate of people, Earth is losing many of its natural resource.

For instance, Earth is currently losing many of it's forests to make room for more people to live in. While Earth does have many open uninhabited areas, we are not thinking of the long term effects it will have on us. Without forests, we are killing of numerous amount of species which is leading to their extinction. Not only are we the cause of extinction for some species but we're also taking out our own oxygen supply. Trees take in the CO2 (carbon dioxide) from our air and transforms it into oxygen for us humans to breath. With the loss of trees, there is a loss of oxygen and CO2 building causing global warming.

Also, Earth is also facing a loss of fresh water supply. With all the pollution the world is doing, it is being absorbed into our air and then released back into our atmosphere as acidic rain which pollutes many of our rivers and oceans causing the contamination of our water supplies. The United States has many rivers and lakes polluted with toxic chemicals such as Mercury and Cyanide. With the contamination of our waters, we're also affecting aquatic life which in return provides us with food and fresh oxygen.

With many being oblivious or ignorant towards the fact that our world is overpopulated, we need to all realize that our "free ride" on Earth may soon be over with the way we are abusing every aspect of "her". We must think and know about the long term effects of our actions because "putting it off" simply won't cut it as we are wasting our resources or using them greedily when we could be sharing with parts of the world that are in dire of need of these particular resources. I for one firmly believe that history in one way, or another, repeats itself. As it did for the powerful Syrian and Roman empires, the United States and many other top nations will soon become nothing but an example of rich nations falling to their inevitable demise.As said in Ozymandias, sonnet about the fall of great empires, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains...the lone and level sands stretch far away".

References: 

https://brainmass.com/file/1432392/oskamp_2000_a%281%29.pdf

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section4group5/implications

Essay Topic + Quote

Topic: The world's overpopulation and the forthcoming effects.

Quote: "City-state populations, however, have a steadily increasing food supply...as a result, their population [grows] without limit until they hit the sudden wall of famine or plague or the end of their energy resources" (210).