A Comparison of Absurdity between Waiting for Godot and Catch-22

Abstract：Waiting for Godot is a masterpiece of Samuel Beckett，an excellent British postmodernism playwright;Catch-22 is a masterpiece of Joseph Heller，an eminent American postmodernism novelist.Both of the two works are well-known for absurdity and black humor，from which the significance of the works is manifested.The thesis is a comparison of absurdity between Waiting for Godot and Catch-22，containing three parts.The first part analyzes the similarities of absurdity between the two works from four aspects：The World War Two impels the formation of absurdity;the technique of black humor helps to unfold absurdity;the absurdity indicates the meaningless and repeated life;the absurdity in both works show the theme of despair and hope.Then the second part analyzes the differences of absurdity from three facets：the absurdity from the inner world versus that from theoutside reality;human’s spiritual wasteland versus realistic sufferings;human’s waiting for hope versus pursuingfor freedom.The last part is the conclusion about the significance of absurdity and the warning meaning in the two works.

Keywords：Waiting for Godot;Catch-22;comparison;absurdity

1.Similarities of absurdity between the two works

Waiting for Godot is an anti-theater work，in which Samuel Beckett breaks up the traditional standards of the “well-made” play by a lack of dramatic plots and by fragment depiction to show the absurdity of human beings.Similarly，Catch-22 is an anti-novel work，in which Joseph Heller distorts characters by disordered narration to show the absurdity of reality instead of applying the traditional realism，thus one cannot find a complete plot development clue in the whole novel.There is analysis about the similarities of absurdity between the two works.

1.1.Underthe influence of the World War Ⅱ

The development of western science and technology allows people to enjoy the fruits of industrial civilization，but also destroys human civilization and human reason，which makes people feel anxious.After the World War Ⅱ，the world has greatly changed.First of all，the tradition moral doctrines havedeclined while the new moral norm has not formed.Secondly，the war hurts people both physically and mentally.Hence，people feel negative about life and are confused about their own future.Like many of the contemporary writers，Samuel Beckett and Joseph Heller have gone through the two world wars，and the war experience impels them to think rationally about the life of human beings and the reality.Both of them notice human’s anxiety and uncertainty about life.Therefore，they express their deep feelings through the play and the novel.Beckett’s view of absurdity in Waiting for Godot is his reflection on the real state of human beings’ meaningless life under the influence of the war.Heller’s vision of the horrifying absurdity of service life in the war in Catch-22 is merely an illustration of the absurdity of the human conditionitself to show his anti-war attitude.Therefore，the absurdity manifested in both works is under the influence of the World War Ⅱ.

1.2.Through the technique of black humor to show absurdity

Black humor is called as “gallows humor”，can also be translated as “disaster humor”.Harry in the dictionary of literary term shave said：“Black humor also called black comedy，it is a myth，abnormal，morbid sense of humor.”（姚雪蓮，2014：25） In Waiting for Godot，Beckett describes Estragon and Vladimir in a ridiculous way.For instance，Estragon takes off his boots repeatedly，and Vladimir feels funny with his hat，and puts it off again and again;sometimes they use some dirty words suddenly and despise each other like “You stink of garlic”.As the protagonists of the play，Estragon and Vladimir make readers laugh with their strange behavior and conversation.Waiting for Godot conveys human beings’ absurd state through black humor to make readers laugh first and then reflect in depth instead of describing the reality life in detail.Meanwhile，in Catch-22，Heller depicts the ridiculous law that a soldier can only apply for grounding when he is insane，however，if he can submit the application，everyone must believe that he is sane.And soldiers are told that they can only be sent home when they fly for a formulary times and they must obey superiors’ order，but their colonels continually raise the number of missions after their finishing tasks.Having read these funny laws，readers may laugh and then reflect.Catch-22 relies heavily on black humor to convey the insanity of war，presenting the horrible meaningless of armed conflict through a kind of absurdity，rather than through graphic depictions of suffering and violence.From the analysis above，readers can summarize that both Beckett and Heller apply the technique of black humor to help readers notice the absurdity of human beings and life.

1.3.From the repeated and meaningless life

Human beings’ mental state generally changes as the real life changes.In Waiting for Godot，the protagonist Estragon and Vladimir are always talking about the place where they should wait because they are confused about it;on the other hand，they are uncertain about time，so that Estragon are always doubt that whether they should wait on Saturday.Meanwhile，they repeats the word “Nothing to be done” for several times.When they meet Pozzo，they are like two funny clowns for that they are curious about Pozzo’s slave，Lucky;and they are so boring that they want to see Lucky dance.All of their repeated behavior is absurd because they cannot find the meaning of life.Similarly，in Catch-22，the protagonist Yossarian and his friends endure a nightmarish，absurd existence defined by bureaucracy and violence，and they are actually inhuman resources in the eyes of their cruel superior officers.The soldiers are ordered to join in brutal combat situations in which it is more important for them to capture good aerial photographs of explosions instead of destroying their targets.However，the repeated combat is extremely meaningless for the soldiers because they are the sacrifice of their superior officers’ benefit rather than for justice and goodness.And they have to risk their lives even when they know that their allies have essentially won the war.The distortion and absurdity of the laws，the characters and the army in the novel is caused by the repeated and meaningless life.

1.4.For the theme of despair and hope

The absurdity of the two works shows the theme of despair and hope.In Waiting for Godot，Estragon and Vladimir are always emphasizing that they are waiting for Godot，which is the only goal of them for that they firmly believe that Godot has their future in hand.However，when they are waiting，the boy，the servant of Mr.Godot，comes to inform them that Mr.Godot will not be able to meet them that night，but will surely come the next day.Obviously，they still fail to meet Godot the next day.Then they feel desperate and want to hang themselves or leave this place，but no one moves.In fact，their waiting is an endless cycle in which they wait，hope，hesitate，disappoint，and still wait.The real thing they are waiting is hope，the hope for future，but it does not come，and they are still in desperate wait.The absurdity of the two tramps shows the theme of hope in the play.Similarly，in Catch-22，Yossarian is the only one who realizes that he is in the cruel and terrible war，so that he longs for leaving the army and returning home.However，the incarnation of Catch-22 appears as the rule that keep Yossarian flying combat mission again and again，so that he can never leave.In this sense，Catch-22 is a piece of circular reasoning that keeps Yossarian trapped in a paradox that determines whether he lives or dies.Heller uses the word“catch” instead of “l(fā)aw” and “principle” is for the purpose that “catch” has the meaning of capture and control，which can emphasize the desperate situation that Yossarian and other soldiers live in.Yossarian is not like other protagonists in traditional realistic novels in that he tries to avoid risking his life to save others，and the mere goal of him is to stay alive.Especially，when Snowden，his friend，has died in his arm in the battlefield，Yossarian feels more frightened of the war and death，so that he is always visualizing his own death.Hence，he feels desperate.Furthermore，he is aware of that life is precious and he must struggle for living as long as possible，which means that he find hope in despair.The absurdity of the law and the war also shows the despair and hope in the novel.

2.Differences of absurdity between the two works

AlthoughWaiting for Godot and Catch-22 have some similarities in absurdity，we can still find differences in various focus of absurdity in the two works.Beckett does not mention the absurdity of war，he only convey the sense of absurdity through the characters，while Heller depict the absurdity to criticize the war.Their purpose of writing is not the same.

2.1.The inner world versus the external reality

In Waiting for Godot，readers can feel the absurdity through the two protagonists’ mechanical behavior，the confusion about time and space，the uncertainty about whether Godot will come，the terrible oppression between the master and the slave，and the stream of consciousness in characters’ illogical speech.Beckett applies the technique of stream of consciousness to show the disorder of human beings’ mind，under the control of which characters have ridiculous actions;so he highlights the absurdity of human beings’ inner world.On the contrary，In Catch-22，readers can feel the absurdity through the real law in the army and the crazy bureaucracy.For example，Colonel Cathcart，the superior officer who is in charge of Yossarian，is a cruel man who never cherishes others’ lives and makes soldiers sacrifice for his own desire for being a general.Another ridiculous man is Major Major，a supremely mediocre squadron commander.He is promoted to major by a mischievous computer.Heller describes many characters with funny events and criticizes the corrupt bureaucracy and the cruel reality by the technique of satire，and the absurdity of reality is his focus.

2.2.Spiritual wasteland versus realistic sufferings

After the World War Ⅱ，human beings are trapped into the belief crisis.Most people hate the social problems that the war has brought，and doubt the meaning of life.Both Beckett and Heller are worried about human beings at that time.Nevertheless，Beckett focuses much more on the spiritual problems caused by the absurd life，but Heller pays more attention to the realistic sufferings of people living in the absurd society.In Waiting for Godot，the bleak setting at the beginning of Act Ⅱ：“A country road.A tree.Evening”（Samuel Beckett，2002：1） and the absurd repetition in the play indicates the spiritual wasteland of human beings.The most terrible thing in human beings’ life is that nothing happens and nothing can be done.When there is no vitality in life，human beings are no less than cold machines.Beckett leads readers to realize thespiritual wasteland of human beings in the absurd life.Conversely，in Catch-22，Yossarian witnesses many kinds of human horror like rapes，disease，and murder on the street;and he encountered countless death of innocent soldiers who obey the ridiculous laws of the army.All soldiers like Yossarian are in the great suffering of the war，which are caused by the absurd world.Heller hascriticized the oppression over the individual by the society，the organization and the institutions，and revealed people’s hard life under the control of absurd and disordered world.

2.3.Waiting for hope versus pursuing for freedom

The protagonists in the two works hold distinctive attitude towards the absurd and helpless life.In Waiting for Godot，Estragon and Vladimir are always waiting，to some extent，their waiting shows that they still long for hope.However，their waiting is passive，and may be in vain because the only function of waiting is to support them to stay alive rather than suicide.They do not take any actions to change their state，and submit to the absurd life.In this sense，they may still have faith in Savior and devotionally think that Savior will save them.At last，they are still in a cycle and nothing has been changed，they are still two tramps living a hardest life.Conversely，in Catch-22，Yossarian has gone through repeated wars and has witnessed many soldiers’ death，so he refuses to fly any more missions.Facing the dilemma of choosing to be sent to a court or choosing to support his superior officers’ merciless order to be released，Yossarian does not give in，and he chooses another way out，deciding to desert the army and flee to neutral Sweden.On the other hand，Yossarianis an atheist and he even despises God in that he has encountered many disasters in his army life.（楊文婕，2010：17）When it comes to lives，God is totally useless for the people in hardship.Finally，he succeeds in leaving the dehumanizing army，gets rid of the control of ridiculous Catch-22，and holds the future in his own hand.The final freedom of Yossarian is due to his constant effort.He is autonomous to insist in escaping from the absurd life，and does not lose his reason in despair.

3.Conclusion

As a landmark in the development of the theater of absurd，Waiting for Godot shows readers the absurdity of human existence in postmodern life.As the milestone in the development of black humor，Catch-22 shows readers the absurd world after the war through tragic humor.Both works create new writing technique of absurdity，which has great impact on later writers.And they have similarities and differences.After reading the two works，readers can feel the same grief which comes from the desperate life and the helplessness of the characters in the lowest class of the society who live a hardest life in the absurd world.The humor and absurdity in the works helps readers learn more and think deeply about the distortion，corruption，disorder of life and the vacant spirit at that confusing time，and it also indicates that human should be optimistic when they are going through a long-term suffering that they cannot get rid of.It’s essentially a special attitude towards life and the society.What’s more，the authors also inspire human to realize their own living state，bravely resist in the terrible reality to change the miserable fate.When readers learn?these two works，they can summarize the philosophical thought behind the absurdity，which has the warning meaning for life and can leads human to spare no efforts having a bright future.

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作者簡介：程紹彬，1997年1月18日出生，女，漢族，籍貫湖北竹山縣，現(xiàn)就讀于陜西師范大學外國語學院2018級外國語言學及應用語言學專業(yè)，碩士研究生，主要研究方向：翻譯學。