Endgame

A stark, bare room is lit with dim, gray light. Curtains are drawn across two windows on different sides of the room and, in the corner, a dirty sheet covers two garbage cans. An old man, Hamm, sits in a chair in the center of the room, also covered by a sheet. A younger man named Clov watches the motionless Hamm, then turns to look through the window toward the sea. Then he turns to look through the other window, toward the land. Clov stumbles away and returns with a stepladder, which he uses to open the curtains covering the sea window. He laughs, then does the same at the other window. He pulls the sheet back from the garbage cans, looks inside, laughs again, and then closes the garbage cans. Carrying one sheet, he walks to Hamm. He whips back the sheet covering the old man, revealing Hamm. The old man wears a dressing gown and a handkerchief is laid across his face. He has a whistle on a string around his neck. Hamm seems to be asleep. Returning to his starting point, Clov remarks that “it must be nearly finished” (6).