Introduction to The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot
Human beings are very strange in that either they wait for a messiah, who could remove all of their anxieties, ills and bad luck, or they fear a risky situation that may end their life or cause them irrevocable damage as in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot. Whatever the situation of a person maybe, either he is waiting for somebody who would bless him with something he cannot achieve, or there is another body who is fearing some impending doom which could make him prominent among others. Whatever the case may be, it is in human nature to find somebody else to get rewarded or be destroyed. Both, the novella of Henry James, The Best in the Jungle, and the play of Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, deal with the issue of waiting or futile waiting in one or the other way. Although both the writers differ not only in their language but also in philosophy, approach towards life and literature and eras in which they lived. However, the common thing between them is the sense of waiting which they have beautifully depicted in their respective works. Of both works The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot, The Beast in the Jungle, is about the wait of a supposed beast bringing devastation on Marcher, while Waiting for Godot is a wait for an unknown person who never comes though he is considered a messiah – solution to all the problems of the given characters.
Wait in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot
As far as wait in, The Beast in the Jungle, is concerned, this wait is very neatly put into different meanings. John Marcher has assumed that he would be attacked by some beast or that some beast is in waiting to pounce upon him. It is because when both May Bartram and John Marcher meet and get interested in each other, Marcher does not marry her, because he has in mind that he is not sure about his life when it would end with the attack of that beast. Henry James states at a point that “the definite lesson from that was that a man of feeling did not cause himself to be accompanied by a lady on a tiger-hunt” (James 16). It means that he is always waiting for that beast and is creating an impression around him that he is facing some impending attack of the beast. However, what he is not clear is that there is no beast to attack him. It is only his wait, but the major issue of the novella is not just the wait, but the wait of some impending loss or devastation. This shows a difference in the wait in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot
Wait in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot
This devastation, according to his thinking, is that he is not sure what this beast will do to him. More than often, the idea in his mind is that it is some disaster or some accident of a grand scale that would devastate him. Even the worst about it is that he has made May Bartram to accept his theory and wait like him. Both continue waiting until one day it dawns upon him that this beast is a wait that has devastated his youthful years in the wait, leaving aside little with him to pay tribute to the beauty of May Bartram, who is going to die shortly. This is the spot where he suddenly comes to realize the stupidity of his act, for “Everything fell together, confessed, explained, overwhelmed; leaving him most of all stupefied at the blindness he had cherished” (48). This is where he comes to know the real wait and interprets it in totally different meanings which shows a difference in the waiting of wait in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot.
Wait in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot
However, this wait with Estragon and Vladimir of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is entirely different. They are two tramps who are to wait for Godot willy-nilly. They come every night on that platform to wait for Godot. However, he does not come and they leave. Their conversation tells that they are tied to wait for him, and if they do not wait, what might happen. But at the same time they are certain to some extent that if he comes, perhaps their fate will change somehow. It is only a question of whether he comes, but this continues to haunt them throughout their short stay at the platform. Even their own coming and going is not sure. Everything seems to be wrapped in uncertainty in the midst of which they are sure about only one thing that they say in unison, “We are waiting for Godot”, but then they forget the place as Estragon asks despairingly to Vladimir, “You are sure it was here” (Beckett 6). Although Vladimir recalls certain signs and symbols, they do not exactly remember whether the place is the same or not.
In the midst of this certainty, they are almost sure that they are waiting for Godot, and that when Godot will come, they will be saved. Whether they question Pozzo or Boy, their answer is the same as they say, “It’s Godot! At last! Gogo! It’s Godot! We are saved” (97). It is here that they think that if they meet Godot, he will save both of them. At one point, Pozzo also points to this fact when he tells both of them that Godot has your immediate future in his hand, which means that he can save both Gogo and Didi, their pet names for each other. However, it never happens but they keep on waiting for better prospects and better future. This wait is different form James’ wait in, The Beast in the Jungle, in that their wait of John Marcher is not clear. However, in the case of Beckett it is clear in, Waiting for Godot, which is that “in this immense confusion one thing is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come” that means they are still positive about the arrival of Godot and his influence over making their life positive (97).
Conclusion
In short, both the pieces have presented waiting or waiting in a very different manner. In both stories, wait in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for GodotThe Beast in the Jungle, present wait or waiting in negative connotations which does not clarify even until the end of the story, this wait or waiting in the play, Waiting for Godot, is equally confusing, but it has some positive connotations. The negative connotations are clear from the sense of the wait. Marcher is always referring to this as some happening, some stroke of fate, some law of the heaven or some accident which would change the very course of his life. His wait is as to waiting for some beast that is ready to pounce upon its victim to finish it. However, wait of Gogo and Didi has some positive connotations. Although it is clear that they are forced to wait for him, they are certain that they are waiting for Godot and that Godot has their immediate future in his hands. Other than this, they are totally confused about everything. One thing is certain that they are going to wait for Godot tomorrow, as they are waiting now. Therefore, waiting in both the pieces is different, but it could be negative or positive, depending on the type of the characters and their expectations regarding this wait.
Works Cited
- Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Samuel-Beckett. Samuel-becket.net. n. d. Web. 07 May 2022.
- James, Henry. The Beast in the Jungle. Beedbooks Online. n.d. Web. 07 May 2022.
Relevant Questions about Waiting for The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot
- How does the theme of waiting in The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James relate to the central character John Marcher’s anticipation of a significant event in his life, and how does it compare to the waiting experienced by Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot?
- In Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon wait for someone who may never arrive. How does this existential waiting differ from the anticipation of a vague future event in The Beast in the Jungle? What existential themes connect the two works?
- Both works explore the concept of waiting as a central motif. How do the characters in The Beast in the Jungle and Waiting for Godot cope with the uncertainty and meaninglessness associated with their waiting, and what does this reveal about the human condition in each work?