Human Life Threats and Analysis of Defense Mechanism in “Waiting for Godot”

Abstract

Defense Mechanism is a technique used at the end of all conflicts to reduce internal crises of the characters, suggested by Freud, whereas Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" is a post-war play that portrays the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty of human life. The four central characters of the play, Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, and Lucky, develop major psychological issues, such as complex nature and perplexed minds. These characters seem normal, but they have some psychological fears and conflicts in their unconscious. The primary aim of this work is to explore the notion of human actions in the modern drama, "Waiting for Godot", through the spectacles of Freud's theory of Defense Mechanism "The Neuro-Psychoses of Defense". The research is based on a qualitative approach due to its literary nature, excavating the four central characters of "Waiting for Godot" to perceive and analyze the intended thinking of Becket's mind. This research intricate that 'how such sort of human defense control or drive human's actions and behaviors by obscured forces in their unconscious," which are shown in the study. In contrast, all characters of the play are consistent. The research suggests conducting future investigations in the same literary genres to present human problems, a journey from art for art's sake to art for life, and the findings as reported that every human being has some fears and defense which keep him attentive and away from different situations, to be implicated further on other literary works.