![]() ![]() Unlike the great blind prophets of' yore who could see everything, for Pozzo "the things of time are hidden from the blind." Ultimately, for Pozzo, man's existence is discomforting and futile, depressing, and gloomy and, most of all, brief and to no purpose. From a position of omnipotence and strength and confidence, he has fallen and has become the complete fallen man who maintains that time is irrelevant and that man's existence is meaningless. Rather than driving Lucky as he did earlier, he is now pathetically dragged along by Lucky. He cannot get along without help he is pathetic. Pozzo is now blind he cannot find his way alone. The rope is shortened, drawing Pozzo much closer to his antithesis, Lucky. ![]() In contrast to the towering presence exhibited by Pozzo in Act I, a significant change occurs between the two acts. Pozzo's superiority is also seen in the manner in which he eats the chicken, then casts the bones to Lucky with an air of complete omnipotence. When he arrives on the scene and sees Vladimir and Estragon, he recognizes them as human, but as inferior beings then he condescendingly acknowledges that there is a human likeness, even though the "likeness is an imperfect one." This image reinforces his authoritarian god-like stance: we are made in God's image but imperfectly so. He gives the illusion that he knows exactly where he is going and exactly how to get there. He lords over the others, and he is decisive, powerful, and confident. In the first act, Pozzo is immediately seen in terms of this authoritarian figure. Basically, Pozzo commands and Lucky obeys. Also, a stool is often associated with an animal trainer, and Pozzo constantly calls Lucky by animal terms or names. In fact, we hear the cracking of Pozzo's whip before we actually see him. Like a ringmaster, he arrives brandishing a whip, which is the trademark of the professional. If the ringmaster is the chief person of the circus, then it is no wonder that Vladimir and Estragon first mistook him for Godot or God. They are tied together by a long rope thus, their destinies are fixed together in the same way that Pozzo might be a mother figure, with the rope being the umbilical cord which ties the two together.Įverything about Pozzo resembles our image of the circus ringmaster. Pozzo appears on stage after the appearance of Lucky. ![]()
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