ESTRAGON
(sadly) You see, you piss better when I'm not there.
VLADIMIR
I missed you . . . and at the same time I was happy. Isn't that a strange thing?
ESTRAGON
(shocked) Happy?
VLADIMIR
Perhaps it's not quite the right word.
ESTRAGON
And now?
VLADIMIR
Now? . . . (Joyous.) There you are again . . . (Indifferent.) There we are again. . . (Gloomy.) There I am again.
ESTRAGON
You see, you feel worse when I'm with you. I feel better alone too. (2.17-23)
Vladimir’s line, in which his emotion ranges from joy to indifference to gloom, is an important one, and helps us to understand the men’s conflicting feelings in this passage. He’s happy to see Estragon, but Estragon’s very presence reminds him of his own plight, which makes him gloomy.
ESTRAGON
That wasn't such a bad little canter.
VLADIMIR
Yes, but now we'll have to find something else.
ESTRAGON
Let me see.
He takes off his hat, concentrates. (2.182-84)
Estragon and Vladimir are playing at having a relationship; the best they can do is simulate what they think they are supposed to do: have an argument, converse, make up, etc.
ESTRAGON
If I could only sleep.
VLADIMIR
Yesterday you slept.
ESTRAGON
I'll try.
He resumes his foetal posture, his head between his knees.
VLADIMIR
Wait. (He goes over and sits down beside Estragon and begins to sing in a loud voice.)
Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye–
ESTRAGON
(looking up angrily) Not so loud!
VLADIMIR
(softly)
Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye . . .
Estragon sleeps. Vladimir gets up softly, takes off his coat and lays it across Estragon's shoulders, then starts walking up and down, swinging his arms to keep himself warm. Estragon wakes with a start, jumps up, casts about wildly. Vladimir runs to him, puts his arms around him. There . . . there . . . Didi is here . . . don't be afraid . . .
ESTRAGON
Ah!
VLADIMIR
There . . . there . . . it's all over.
ESTRAGON
I was falling—
VLADIMIR
It's all over, it's all over.
ESTRAGON
I was on top of a—
VLADIMIR
Don't tell me! Come, we'll walk it off.
He takes Estragon by the arm and walks him up and down until Estragon refuses to go any further. (2.312-323)
Check out the conflict here. Vladimir wants to sing Estragon to sleep, but he’s awkward and clumsy in his attempts to do so. He wants to get closer to his companion, but doesn’t know how. He then sacrifices his jacket for the sleeping Estragon though it means he suffers the cold himself—but when Gogo wakes up, Vladimir refuses to listen to his nightmare. Every attempt at connection is made futile by an inability or unwillingness to commit.