How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line) Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.
Quote #16
POZZO
Make haste, before he stops. (Estragon approaches Lucky and makes to wipe his eyes. Lucky kicks him violently in the shins. Estragon drops the handkerchief, recoils, staggers about the stage howling with pain.) (1.454)
This is a perfect example of the way isolation works in Waiting for Godot. One man makes an attempt to connect to another, and the second man violently pushes him away.
Quote #17
ESTRAGON
(on one leg) I'll never walk again!
VLADIMIR
(tenderly) I'll carry you. (Pause.) If necessary. (1.459-460)
And yet another example; Vladimir begins to express his feelings of friendship for Estragon, but, perhaps embarrassed, quickly pulls back.
Quote #18
ESTRAGON
Wait! (He moves away from Vladimir.) I sometimes wonder if we wouldn't have been better off alone, each one for himself. (He crosses the stage and sits down on the mound.) We weren't made for the same road.
VLADIMIR
(without anger) It's not certain.
ESTRAGON
No, nothing is certain.
Vladimir slowly crosses the stage and sits down beside Estragon.
VLADIMIR
We can still part, if you think it would be better.
ESTRAGON
It's not worthwhile now.
Silence.
VLADIMIR
No, it's not worthwhile now. (1.854-9)
Estragon and Vladimir ask this question repeatedly in Waiting for Godot: whether or not they would be better off alone than they are with each other. The answer never seems to change, and is always passive or indecisive in nature. Or, in Estragon’s earlier words, they don’t do anything because they believe "it’s safer." Too uncertain to part, and too hesitant to have a real friendship, the men are left in constant limbo.