Lucky-Christ

Lucky enters the world of Godot on a leash, held and followed by his master, Pozzo. Lucky carries Pozzo's luggage and acts as his slave, completely subservient and sedate, save when he violently lashes out against an attempt to comfort and when he is ord

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An excerpt from this speech:

"That is to say blast hell to heaven so blue still and calm, so calm with a calm that even thought intermittent is better than nothing. The two tramps are lost only because they are waiting for Godot, but Godot never comes. He is the subject of much discussion by two of the other characters in the play, a pair of Buster Keaton/Charlie Chaplin-type tramps by the names of Vladimir and Estragon. During this trip, Jesus fell three times under the weight of his cross, and in Godot Lucky repeatedly falls under the weight of Pozzo's bags. Lucky is beaten, cursed and spat upon by Estragon, just as the Romans did to Jesus before they put him up on the cross. But if the teaching of Lucky states that we are to "blast hell to heaven," then heaven should be no prize for the good, but rather a place not at all unlike earth, a mixture of the tolerable and the torturous. Pozzo carries a whip, used on stage only to frighten Lucky, but the story goes that the Romans whipped Jesus while he was their captive. Thus we may be able to say that the salvation or rapture (escape from boredom) that Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for does indeed arrive, but it soon becomes as tedious as their previous situation and is only short-lived. Finally, Estragon wipes Lucky's eyes (Jesus' face was wiped by Veronica) so he will "feel less forsaken"; Jesus cried from the cross "God, why have you forsaken me?"

Most of these points are not very memorable when compared to Lucky's one opportunity to speak. Lucky carries Pozzo's bags to the market where he is be sold, a sort of final humiliation. They cannot leave until he comes, for fear of punishment. This dying Christ (and by inference, dying Christianity) is very much in line with Beckett's existential beliefs. And if salvation is no great prize, then why do we hold our Christian beliefs? Is Christ not dead?

Lucky therefore seems to make a strong, but depressing, Christ symbol. "Hell," and "heaven," together conjure up some kind of conflicting image in most western people, "blue still and calm," seems to suggest a still ocean, an image that is almost the complete opposite of the war and violent imagery of "hell" and "heaven".

Common topics in this essay:
Estragon Lucky, God Lucky, Lucky Christ-symbol, Vladimir Estragon, Romans Jesus, Samuel Beckett, Finally Estragon, Pozzo Lucky, Romans Pozzo, , hell heaven, waiting godot, vladimir estragon, lucky enters, lucky carries pozzo's, lucky carries, christ symbol, dying christ, carries pozzo's, throughout play, blast hell heaven, salvation prize,

Approximate Word count = 1158
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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