The Post-Catastrophe Consciousness

The Semiotics of Alienation and Belief in Samuel Beckett's Endgame

Abstract

This essay explores how Samuel Beckett’s Endgame portrays the post-apocalyptic consciousness. Using Walker Percy’s semiotic theory to understand the play, this paper posits
that Endgame shows the struggle for individuals to apprehend themselves amidst catastrophe without objectifying themselves. Unable to find a semiotic referent to identify themselves with, people experience alienation as shown in Endgame through Hamm and Clov. Through their struggle to place themselves in their post-apocalyptic context, Hamm and Clov show the futility f rationally ordering life amidst catastrophe.