How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.
Quote #4
HAMM
My house a home for you.
CLOV
Yes.
(He looks at Hamm fixedly.)
This was that for me.
HAMM(proudly)
But for me,
(gesture towards himself)
no father. But for Hamm,
(gesture toward his surroundings)
no home. (1.399-401)
Why does Hamm take pride in how alone he is? How is this undermined by his fear of Clov leaving him? How does Clov not realize this? How does speaking of himself in the third person attempt to give more authenticity to his struggles?
Quote #5
HAMM(his hand on the dog's head)
Is he gazing at me?
CLOV
Yes.
HAMM(proudly)
As if he were asking me to take him for a walk?
CLOV
If you like.
HAMM(as before)
Or as if he were begging me for a bone.
(He withdraws his hand.)
Leave him like, standing there imploring me. (1.431-435)
Does this moment of absurd vanity make Hamm a more sympathetic character? How is his attitude toward the dog a reflection of his attitude toward Clov? What does it say about their relationship?
Quote #6
HAMM
Ask my father if he wants to listen to my story.
(Clov goes to bins, raises the lid of Nagg's, stoops, looks into it. Pause. He straightens up.)
CLOV
He's asleep.
HAMM
Wake him.
(Clov stoops, wakes Nagg with the alarm. Unintelligible words. Clov straightens up.)
CLOV
He doesn't want to listen to your story.
HAMM
I'll give him a bon bon. (1.515-519)
Why does Hamm's narcissism here come across not as vanity but as neediness? How can one be both proud and pathetic at the same time? In Endgame, is it possible not to be?