Endgame

“Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.”

With his introduction to the stage, Clov is negotiating with his own existence. He repeats himself, but each repetition becomes less assured. The first instance is declarative, then he adds “nearly” (6) then he adds a hopeful “it must be” (6). At each stage, he haggles with his own determination. Clov has spent a long time with Hamm, assuring himself that their relationship is nearly over. Over the course of each routine day, he becomes less assured that he has the power to end their relationship.

“It seems they’ve gone all white.”

Hamm suspects that Clov has been secretly looking at his eyes. In recent times, Hamm has lost his sight. He tells Clov that his eyes have gone “all white” (7), yet he has no way of knowing this. Hamm is trapped in a dark world, but he continues to instruct Clov on how everything around him looks. The blind Hamm describes the color of his eyes—eyes which no longer see—to the fully sighted Clov.

“When there were still bicycles I wept to have one.”

When he was young, Clov wanted a bicycle. Now, there are no more bicycles. In this post-apocalyptic hellscape, there are no more bicycles and no more desires.