Posted by:
Puck (---.sfldmidn.dynamic.covad.net)
When was "Godot" written? Influence from "Waiting for Lefty" certainly sounds plausible, but it seems strange that Godot could be an allusion to another work. I thought Beckett's idea for theatre of the absurd was to be as weird and "out there" as possible.
Also, unlike "Lefty," it is never implied in "Waiting for Godot" that Godot is dead -- in fact, you get the sense that whoever and where ever he is, he is a lot more fortunate than the two poor guys stuck waiting for him! (This is part of what makes the TN joke so funny -- I suspect you probably knew that, though, I'm just clarifying).
You're right about the "Big Martin" connection -- I hadn't thougth of that. I guess characters like Big Martin and Godot just go to prove the old truism that what you don't see is often more powerful than what you do. Storytellers (of all sorts) have to reason the other way: what you don't show is more powerful than what you do. I read Bill Watterson talking about this in cartooning: some of the funniest strips have Calvin getting into trouble offstage, and we just see Hobbes reacting to it -- which is funnier than if we saw exactly what is happening to Calvin.
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Metaphors be with you!