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  • Essay / Analysis by Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot

    In acts one and two, the boy is asked whether he has ever come to see Vladimir and Estragon and whether he knows them; both times he responds with the response “I don’t know, sir.” and “No, sir.” He conveniently "forgets" that he had been there before, and it is implied that the two times he appears in the play are not the only times he has met the two men. He has come before and deceived men every time it is the first time he comes. In Genesis 3:4-5, Satan, in the form of the serpent, deceived Eve and she ate the forbidden fruit, the beginning of his deceptive act: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” 2 Corinthians 11:14. He wants it to be seen as this image of beauty, something that people are drawn to, and in doing so, people are drawn to the beauty of sin and the actions of Satan. Beckett's depiction of Satan as an adorable little boy is exactly that; showing him as a boy. Beckett was able to deceive the men, convincing them that Mr. Godot "does nothing." Each time, the boy asks: “What should I say to Mr. Godot, Sir?” By asking this question, the boy claims that he is returning to Godot to give him a message from men. The boy visits them to deceive the men into believing that Godot will come the next day, when in reality he is not (Act Beckett 1.2). “The coming of the unrighteous is by the work of Satan with all his power, false signs and wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). As a good guy, the beautiful beast deceives his victims, using all his power, tearing them from Godot's body.