The world is a meaningless place. This thought is not uncommon, especially among the cynics of today. It is no wonder then, that such a theme is also common in literature. This is the underlying premise of works such as T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, Albert Camus’ The Stranger, and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
T.S. Eliot’s poem portrays a man named J. Alfred Prufrock living in an aimless and lethargic world. In this world of ordinary men and everyday lives, Prufrock is unable to make any connections with the people around him. He wears his mask because he feels the world is boxing him in, scrutinizing every move he makes. Because of this insecurity, he has no desire to form relationships with women, to make any commitments to life, or to hold any responsibilities. This leads him to think that he will never become a hero like Hamlet, or a saint like John the Baptist. He will never amount to anything, and he will die an undignified death to end a meaningless life.
Such a passive life is also lived by Camus’ Mersault, a man who is so indifferent that he does not even cry upon his mother’s death and remarks after that nothing had changed in his life. For Mersault, each moment is equivalent to all other moments, so accepting a marriage proposal from Marie would be no different from accepting one from another woman, and one job is just as good as the next. Since there are no distinctions among the moments that pass through his life, he is a man without a past, present or future. And a man without a sense of history is someone who has no sense of identity: there is no acknowledgement of past events that have shaped him to what he is now, and no future to look forward to. Without any preferences, choices, or responsibilities to shape his identity, Mersault’s life becomes meaningless.
In contrast, Estragon and Vladimir of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot have chosen to keep their appointment with a man named Godot. It is a responsibility they feel they have: to keep their appointment with Godot even if he never shows up. The meaninglessness of their world stems from the futility of their waiting for Godot, and it is clearly depicted in the activities and conversations they engage in while waiting.
All three texts have been known to depict a world of absurdity. Society always demands coherence and meaning, hence a world of absurdity is one governed by chaos and confusion. In contrast to the many constructs that society makes to give meaning to life, an absurd world thrives in its arbitrariness such that the existence of so many meanings prevents society from reaching any objective meanings. Hence, in all these texts, no one but the protagonist himself can give meaning to his own life.
When Prufrock says, “I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker / And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker / And in short, I was afraid,” we see a man already predicting a very uneventful end to his life, with the light of his days flickering and dying out slowly. Prufrock will not leave this world with a bang because he has not had any influence in anyone’s life, so he will not be missed. But even if he can foresee this kind of end, he is still afraid of it. He is afraid that his life will amount to nothing simply because he has never exerted the effort to make it something: build relationships, take responsibilities, and make choices that will give his life meaning. Thus, in admitting that he is afraid of meeting this kind of end, Prufrock has acknowledged the meaninglessness of his life.
But Prufrock does not stop there. As he acknowledges the meaninglessness of his life, he shares this insight with us readers and tells us that our lives are just as meaningless as his. The entire poem is told from a single person’s point of view, Prufrock’s “I”. But the last stanza introduces the “We”, signifying that we readers are now included in the poem, and we are thus just as doomed as Prufrock. This leaves us with a very dismal picture about life, and it reinforces Prufrock’s resignation about his life.
In contrast, Mersault gains some insight about his life and begins to form a sense of identity in the second half of the novel. We see this when he talks about the things he loves, such as the familiar sounds of a town he loved and the smells of summer. In acknowledging the things that he loves, these memories stand out from all the other memories, and the premise that all moments are equivalent no longer holds true. Because these memories stand out, it says something about him and his personality, as well as the things he values. Because of these loves, his life begins to have value and meaning, so much that he feels he has to protect his integrity by refusing to conform to the norms that society sets.
The entire play Waiting for Godot can be seen as a concrete example of this refusal to conform to norms. Society always demands causal relations and a general coherence throughout life. Beckett defies all that by depicting his characters passing the time as they wait for something they know will never arrive. This very act of waiting for nothing is something society would not consider normal: what is the purpose of waiting for something that will never arrive? It is an act that will never result in anything productive. It is meaningless.
But society seems to miss the point of the play. There is meaning in Waiting for Godot, and it comes in the form of commitment. The mere fact that Estragon and Vladimir are determined to keep their appointment with Godot already gives meaning to their lives. They have a purpose, and that is to wait for Godot.
In fact, if we were to follow the mainstream reading of Godot as a symbol for God, this waiting is comparable to the way Christians wait for the second coming, even if they live with the possibility that Christ may not even come in their lifetime. But waiting for the second coming is something unique to the Christian faith, and so they are defined as Christians when they believe that Christ will come again.
In the same way, Estragon and Vladimir must have a sense of identity as they wait for Godot, most especially since they seem to be the only ones waiting for him. So even if they pass the time by engaging in nonsense activities an the play is littered with events that are meaningless, the very premise of waiting for Godot is what gives it meaning: the commitment to patiently wait for Godot day after day.
Commitment, ultimately, is what gives meaning to life. As Mersault realizes that it doesn’t matter when or how one dies, he also realizes that a commitment to life is the proper response to this insight. His indifference then moves from an indifference toward life itself, to an indifference towards society’s norms. At the end of the novel, he has committed himself to protecting his integrity and his newly gained self-awareness, regardless of how the rest of society sees him. To him, it no longer matters what society thinks of him, as long as he is at peace with himself before he dies.
This commitment to life allows one to make the most out of the time one has before dying. With the awareness that death can come at any time, one should seize every opportunity to build new relationship and strengthen existing ones, and to find a purpose for living. It does not matter if this purpose or relationship is one that is not understood or accepted by society. What matters more is that the commitment to all these things lends coherence to one’s life as one sees it.
In reality, the world is arbitrary, confusing, and chaotic. Prufrock was not wrong in saying that we are all doomed, but only if we choose to be like him: without any convictions in life. The world gains meaning and purpose when we commit ourselves to something, no matter what it is. In the midst of all the confusion and absurdity, commitment is the essential element to the creation of meaning and coherence in society –just as most everyone demands—and to our individual lives as well, which is more important than what society thinks.
As they depict a world of absurdity, it can be quite frustrating to read the three texts. We as readers may wonder, why would Estragon and Vladimir wait for someone they know will never arrive? What kind of a man is Mersault that he does not even cry at his own mother’s funeral? And as we are introduced to Prufrock’s world of lethargy, we may be appalled at his belief that we are all doomed to a meaningless life. All these reactions are entirely valid, as we do belong to the society that conditions us to find meaning in everything and demand coherence in all our actions.
A closer look at the texts, then, is demanded of us. The texts show us that if we do not search for meaning, if we do not find a purpose for living, a conviction to stand up for, this is what our lives will amount to. We will be like Prufrock, wandering aimlessly through a lethargic life. We will be like Mersault, indifferent to everything that is happening around him and simply choosing not to make decisions about his life. We will be like Estragon and Vladimir, simply passing the time to wait for something that will never arrive.
Btu if we make a conscious effort not to be like them –to have convictions, to care about things passionately, and to take responsibilities—our lives will be just as we want them to be: coherent and meaningful.
There will always come a point in our lives that we feel like Prufrock, Mersault, Estragon and Vladimir. We may tire of fighting for our convictions, and we may become tempted to simply float through life and go with the flow. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, The Stranger, and Waiting for Godot all show the consequences of giving up on life. They tell us that no matter what others may think of us, this is what gives meaning to our lives: making commitments –whether they come in the form of relationships, religious beliefs, or the littlest of everyday chores that we have to do—and sticking to them.
It is our commitments, all the things we hold dear to our hearts, that define who we were then, who we are now, and who we will be.