Why is it Different From Reality?-Pozzo becomes blind in one night and helpless in one night.

By Eric Houdek

As Erica had mentioned, in Waiting For Godot, Pozzo becomes blind in one night and helpless in one night.  Because Waiting for Godot does not operate on a linear time scale, the one night is irrelevant.  Although it may attract the audience because it has happened so “suddenly,” one night could be as little as one night or as long as one’s lifetime.  As Pozzo enters the play, he is indeed somewhat of a powerful man, construed to be much more well off than Lucky.  However, regardless of his fortune and power, Pozzo eventually ends up helpless and blind.  Perhaps Pozzo’s helpless condition represents man’s mortality.  Man eventually will die, whether it be at an old or young age.  Pozzo’s blindness could very well represent man’s inability to comprehend life.  Maybe Beckett is suggesting that regardless of one’s life experience, man will never truly understand what life is about.