Human Values Versus Technology in Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Freud's Civilization and its Discontents
One of the most significant and wondrous features of today's society is the progress that has occurred with the passing of years and generations. Never before has humanity witnessed the technological advances that are now transpiring. Such advances encompass almost every facet of life as humanity knows it: from biomedical engineering to the exploration of outer-space. Science has proven to be beneficial to life as well as to the expansion of the mind. However, civilization is not in need solely of scientific revolutions. As the famous Beckett and Freud have implied in their literary works, humanity has not lost touch with innate human values that have been intrinsically bestowed upon it. These values, implicitly stated in the works created by Beckett and Freud, are the need for companionship, and purpose and meaning in life.
The ideas of companionship and meaning in life are ubiquitous in Beckett's play Waiting for Godot. Much of the play is a mockery of the condition humanity would be faced with in a meaningless world. The four main characters in the play, Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, and Lucky, undeniably represent the lazy side of humanity in that they spend their lives waiting for something elusive that evidently will not ever appear. By the end of the play, Vladimir and Estragon are still hoping for this arrival, and there has been no trace of it. This demonstrates the futility of spending so much time anticipating an event that is not likely to happen, given previous experience. Beckett's play is therefore a mockery of the human value of purpose and meaning in life.
Not only does Beckett's play ...
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With the progress of new knowledge and technology, it seems reasonable that human values would advance as well. This, however, has not proven to be the case. Instead, the values that are innate to humanity have remained firmly established since the beginning of time. For example, people are still seeking the meaning of life in religion, as they did thousands of years ago, even though there has not been any discovery that has supported religion. In addition, people still seek companionship in the form of dating, families, sex, and friendship. Companionship has not become obsolete with the advancement of technology, and the way companionship is viewed has not adapted to the realities in society. As much as technology and science have contributed, a value as simple as acceptance of diversity has not progressed nearly as much.
Technological Advances vs. Human Values Technological advances occur all around, whizzing by, while human values change little and at a much slower pace. Commercially bottled water stands as just one of a sundry of items that human technology has conjured up over the years. It seems as though the average person can not go through a day without seeing a symbol of this phenomenon, whether it is a vending machine, an empty container lying in the gutter, or a person clutching a plastic bottle in their hand. Also an ever-present technological advance is the cellular phone, "can you hear me now? " It is almost a guarantee that during the course of a class period, a ringtone or the buzzing of the vibrating mode will shake the air.
Humanity’s technological progressions have separated us from other species, but what are the motives of this progress? And are they truly for the better good? In this passage from What Are People For?, Wendell Berry argues that technology is motivated by greed for money and ease when it should be focused on improving communities and loving God, our families, and our country. But does a desire for money mean that people don’t love these things? No. On the contrary, it is often motivated by the fundamental trait of humanity to care for their family and community.
Every day I use technology and science, from the allergy pill I take to my cell phone and my Apple watch, technology is a vital part of my day. Are the human values of integrity, honesty and kindness a part of my everyday life, though? Everyone wants to believe they are a good person, but there are so many things in life that aren't good or positive at all, it is apparent that people-who want to think they are good-do mean things. Some of the worst things are done with some of the best intentions, with the idea that the ends justify the means. Science can improve several things, like one's life expectancy, but can it improve the quality of life? Science without morals to support it can be a dangerous thing. This is seen in several of the works we have read this semester, including Henrik Ibsen's Enemy of the People and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.
From the moment that the curtain rises, Waiting for Godot assumes an unmistakably absurdist identity. On the surface, little about the plot of the play seems to suggest that the actions seen on stage could or would ever happen. At the very least, the process of waiting hardly seems like an ideal focus of an engaging and entertaining production. Yet it is precisely for this reason that Beckett’s tale of two men, whose only discernable goal in life is to wait for a man known simply as Godot, is able to connect with the audience’s emotions so effectivel...
In contrast to Stoppard’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’ is much bleaker in the respect that Vladimir and Estragon seem to have no purpose or direction in their lives. Their only hope rests on the mysterious Godot who never comes, however they do remain alive at the end. This leads the reader to question which pair of characters are the most unfortunate. Rosencrantz and Guildensten may not have been saved from death but they have been saved from the futility of life which Vladimir and Estragon exclaim: “We can’t go on like this” yet ironically they are left to do so.
Praises resound around the world everyday in admiration of man's magnificent creation, technology. Scientific progress has been hailed the number one priority of man, while the development of society itself has been cast aside like an old beta vcr. When surrounded by a constant herd of machinery, finding purpose in life is often overshadowed by a desire to continually generate new scientific inventions. In the post-war classics Waiting for Godot and Slaughterhouse Five, the authors rally for meaning within the chaos of technology and stress the importance of "a possibility of choice"(Sartre 339). In addition to improved technology, Vonnegut and Beckett emphasize that members of society need to attach significance to their lives through the use of free will.
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot has been said by many people to be a long book about nothing. The two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, spend all their time sitting by a tree waiting for someone named Godot, whose identity is never revealed to the audience. It may sound pretty dull at first but by looking closely at the book, it becomes apparent that there is more than originally meets the eye. Waiting for Godot was written to be a critical allegory of religious faith, relaying that it is a natural necessity for people to have faith, but faiths such as Catholicism are misleading and corrupt.
Science and Human Values in Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents
In Samuel Beckett Tragicomedy Waiting for Godot he begs the question of life and death. Throughout the commotion of the play Becket addresses the age old debate of the afterlife and if people willingly pass this life to enter into Gods kingdom or if God calls them. Beckett introduces characters such as Estragon, Vladimir, and Lucky to illustrate the different types of perspectives that man has taken on this debate.
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting For Godot. 3rd ed. N.p.: CPI Group, 2006. Print. Vol. 1 of Samuel Beckett: The Complete Dramatic Works. 4 vols
Irish-born French author Samuel Beckett was well known for his use of literary devices such as black comedy in his various literary works. Written during late 1948 and early 1949 and premiered as a play in 1953 as En attendant Godot, Beckett coupled these devices with minimalism and absurdity in order to create the tragicomedy known to English speakers as Waiting for Godot. True to its title, Waiting for Godot is the tale of a pair of best friends known as Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) who are waiting for the character the audience comes to know as Godot to appear. Throughout Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett alludes to the monotheistic religion of Christianity through symbols, dialogue, and characters to reveal the heavy invisible influence of God in the daily life of man.
Humans spend their lives searching and creating meaning to their lives, Beckett, however, takes a stand against this way of living in his novel ‘Waiting for Godot’. He questions this ideal of wasting our lives by searching for a reason for our existence when there is not one to find. In his play, he showcases this ideology through a simplistic and absence of setting and repetitious dialogue. Beckett’s ability to use these key features are imperative to his ability of conveying his message of human entrapment and existence.
The term of Information Overload has many synonyms and definitions over the year, which is dependent on the content and on of the situation experienced. Information Overload is basically the result of the tremendous influx of information and our inherent ability to absorb the information. Psychological and Physiological impacts of Information Overload are observed. During this globalization era, students are using internet more and more to cope up with the updated information. Therefore Internet Information Overload effects the youth (specifically students) on large scale.
Although Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot, has no definite meaning or interpretation, the play acts as a statement of hopelessness regarding human existence. Debate surrounds the play because, due to its simplicity, almost any interpretation is valid. The main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are aging men who must wait for a person, being, or object named Godot, but this entity never appears to grace the men with this presence. Both characters essentially demonstrate how one must go through life when hope is nonexistent as they pointlessly attempt to entertain themselves with glum conversation in front of a solitary tree. The Theater of the Absurd, a prevalent movement associated with Waiting for Godot, serves as the basis for the message of hopelessness in his main characters. Samuel Beckett's iconic Waiting for Godot and his perception of the characteristics and influence of the Theater of the Absurd illustrate the pointlessness and hopelessness regarding existence. In the play, boredom is mistaken for hopelessness because the men have nothing to do, as they attempt to occupy themselves as, for some reason, they need to wait for Godot. No hope is present throughout the two-act play with little for Estragon and Vladimir to occupy their time while they, as the title indicates, wait for Godot.
Technology has brought us closer and squeezed the distances, but in reality, it has taken us away from each other. The rapid growth of technology has brought about significant changes in human lives, especially in their relationships. The latest technologies have turned this world into a “global village” but the way humans interact with each other, the types of relationships and their importance has changed a lot. The advancement in technology has brought us closer, but has also taken us apart. In the past, the means of communication were limited.