Waiting for Godot Estragon Quotes

Smell is clearly an issue for Estragon. This is the second time (earlier it was Vladimir’s breath) that he recoils from another for such a reason. As we mentioned in Quote #6, it would seem that Estragon is bothered by the visceral nature of another’s humanity. This time, however, the smell isn’t enough to drive him away; he repeats loudly that he’s going to leave, possibly in the hopes that someone will stop him.

We’ve gotten this several times by this point in the play, but this one is arguably the clearest in its message. Vladimir wants Estragon awake because he’s lonely—he needs the entertainment. But he doesn’t want to invest anything personally by listening to Estragon’s dreams; this would make Estragon human, real, which Vladimir can’t seem to handle.

Vladimir and Estragon are confined by their waiting just as Lucky is confined by the rope around his neck. In this comparison, Godot is compared to Pozzo as the being that governs such confinement. But do the prisoners, Vladimir and Estragon, choose to be imprisoned?