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Berlin. Because many of the details of the Bunker have come to light only recently,

it is very doubtful that this connection was much on Beckett's mind if at all.13

The

sense of total despair, to the point that death is a hoped for fantasy, and the inability

to connect in any meaningful way to what is going on is certainly territory shared

by the two circumstances. Even without specific or conscious connections the sense

of ultimate darkness in the bunker is certainly useful when looking at ENDGAME.

The bulk of Beckett's writing was poetry, short prose and novels. He had

written one play ELEUTHERIA (1936), before the war. In 1935 Beckett began work

on what was to become a trilogy of novels. The books were wearing on Beckett so

much that by the time he got to the third of the three books (THE UNNAMABLE),

Beckett's friends were afraid that he would die when it was finished. His physical

condition fell apart completely. As a diversion, to take his mind off of the ordeal of

his novel, Beckett wrote a play. In 1948 WAITING FOR GODOT sprang out of

Beckett's mind with a speed and ease that was completely uncharacteristic for

Beckett.

WAITING FOR GODOT was a sensation, and catapulted it's author into

international celebrity. Following the premier Beckett supervised or visited

productions of the play all over Europe.

WAITING FOR GODOT was in many ways a precursor for ENDGAME.

Beckett once said that Hamm and Clov were Didi and Gogo later in life (Beckett

said that Hamm and Clov were many things at various times. Most notably

perhaps he said that they were Beckett and Suzanne).14

If we assume this construct

it becomes clear that although in both plays the characters are in stasis, in

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