Dan Mayer

Samuel Beckett

Endgame

Choosing Death

This story didn't seem to make much sense to me. Hamm and Clov were essentially the two main characters. They had been around each other for who knows how long. Hamm seemed to hate having to have Clov do things for him and Clov seemed to hate helping Hamm. The only idea i could see through out the story was the choice of assisted suicide, or a family to pull the plug. Hamm obviously representing the older person with terminal illness and Clov representing the family or close caregiver. Hamm is not explicitly shown to have a terminal illness but i think it is fairly obvious given the many signs of his declining health.

Hamm didn't seem to enjoy life anymore, nor did he seem to be the same person as he was in the past. This lead to the belief that Hamm really was ready to die. Not just ready but acting almost like he wished it upon himself. Even asking why Clov didn't kill him. This could be looked at as a attempt at assisted suicide in our lives, something that has been highly debated. Clov never could kill Hamm but i don't think that really states Beckett's belief. Beckett had Clov unable to kill him because of being so close over the years, while not really saying whether the killing would be just or unjust. The reader is left to ponder this question themselves and since it is a very case by case decision left to consider the case of Hamm. Most readers I believe would come to the conlusion that like Clov there is not a good enough argument to end Hamm's life prematurely.

Clov could also be seen as a family dealing with a formerly loved family member on a life support machine. Since many parts of this story were very surreal i don't think it would be a far stretch to say Hamm isn't really alive anymore and the family is just having memories of their last years together. The family wasn't remember the good and happy part of Hamm's life, but instead remember the end and the anger and crying for death. There is definitely a feeling of distance portrayed between Hamm and Clov. After going through all the memories and ending with being told to leave, Clov walks away leaving Hamm behind, which i believe would represent the family pulling the plug and leaving a body to it's own to survive. Much like Hamm really required Clov to live, a person on life support requires the machines to live. So Clov leaving is in essentially taking about removing life support. In this second way to take the story I believe Beckett does give his opinion on what is right and wrong in the case of life support. That a families beliefs of what the person wanted should be allowed.

Finally we have to realize that these weren't really issues during Beckett's life. At least not in the same manner. I am sure though that there has always been thoughts of when to end care for the elderly. When to give up hope on a family member. So while the concepts of assisted suicide and life support were different I believe they still existed in varied forms. Knowing more about the past costumes of such issues may change my interpretation. In the end I think Beckett illustrated his very serious and depressing thoughts in a easy mannered and light hearted temper.