Endgame

When Hamm asks for his gaff (a metal hook), Clov is left wondering why he allows Hamm to boss him around. He fetches the gaff anyway and watches as Hamm tries (and fails) to use it to wheel his chair around the room. The men bicker about fetching oil for the squeaky wheels of the chair. Hamm remembers an artist friend who believed that the world was ending and that “he alone had been spared” (28). Hamm cannot remember when this was, only that it happened many years ago. Hamm suggests, once again, that Clov should leave, then wonders how he will know if Clov has left. Clov responds that he will know when he blows his whistle and no one comes. Hamm responds: that might simply mean that Clov has collapsed and died in the kitchen. Clov, under orders from Hamm, comes up with a solution. He sets an alarm clock. If the alarm clock does not ring, he explains, then that will mean that he has died. As he fiddles with the clock, Hamm announces that the time has come for his story. Hamm tells Clov to wake Nagg.

Nagg passes a message along to Hamm, through Clov. He does not want to hear Hamm’s story again. If he must hear the story, then he wants a sugarplum in exchange. Hamm sends Clov to fetch the sugarplum. While he is away, Hamm grills Nagg about why he fathered a son. He promises that Nagg will get his sugarplum once the story is over. Hamm begins his story. He describes an “extra-ordinarily bitter day” (31) when a straggly, pale man dragged himself across the ground toward the narrator of the story, whom Hamm refers to as Hamm. With continual asides commenting to himself about the quality of the story, he describes a past Christmas Eve, the night when the pale man crawled toward Hamm and asked him to look away. The man claimed that he had left his son to search for bread to feed him. Hamm dismissed the man’s claim, insisting that food would not do much to solve the problem of living on earth. Hamm agreed to hire the man and, eventually, the man’s child, should the child survive. Hamm insists that he is approaching the end of the story. He agrees not to expand the story to include other characters as he cannot find them. Now, he says, is the time to “pray to God” (33).

Hamm whistles for Clov, who enters with the announcement that he has found—and “mostly” exterminated—a rat in the kitchen. Hamm insists that they hold a prayer. Nagg begins the prayer, but Hamm tells him to be silent. He insists on a silent prayer, and after a quiet moment, the group is disappointed to hear “sweet damn all” (34) from God. Hamm insists that God does not exist. He responds bitterly to Nagg’s request for his sugarplum, telling Nagg that the sugarplums are all gone. Nagg talks about being Hamm’s father. He remembers how Hamm would always run to him, rather than to Nell, when he was scared. He looks forward to a day when Hamm wants to listen to him again. Nagg calls out for Nell, but she does not respond, so he lowers himself back inside his garbage bin.

Hamm reaches unsuccessfully for his dog. He suggests that it has gone, but Clov dismisses this suggestion. The dog is a toy; it cannot just leave. Clov finds it for Hamm, who then throws it across the room. Clov cannot help but tidy everything up. He prefers everything to be neatly ordered. Hamm tells him to stop and, as Clov tries to exit, insists that Clov listen to his story. Hamm returns to his narration. He explains how he gave the pale man work, hiring him as a gardener. Soon, however, Hamm becomes too tired to narrate. He sends Clov to check on Nell. When he looks inside the garbage can, Clov announces that Nell seems to have died. Nagg, Clove reports, is alive but “crying” (38).

Hamm tells Clov to wheel his chair beside the window. He wants to feel the light from outside. Having been wheeled to the window looking over the earth, Hamm insists that there is no light. He tells Clov to push him to the window looking across the sea. There, he claims to feel “a ray of sunshine” (39) on his face. Clov assures him that there is no light. Hamm wants to hear the sea. He tells Clov to open the window. As Hamm continues to insist, Clov pretends to open the window. Then, he returns Hamm to the middle of the room. Clov gives Hamm an update on his father: Nagg is no longer crying; he is now eating his biscuit. Hamm asks Clov either to kiss him on the forehead or to hold his hand. Clov refuses. As Hamm frets about his dog, Clov leaves, saying, “If I don’t kill that rat, he’ll die” (41).

Hamm is left alone. He spreads his handkerchief out in front of him. He cries, he says, to keep from laughing. He thinks somewhat regretfully of all the people he might have helped or saved, but he recalls that nothing can save people from existing on earth. The thought of humanity angers him, as does his current situation. He doesn’t even have a real dog. He does not know whether to fall to the floor, start a new story, or finish his previous story. Since he cannot lift himself out of his seat, he thinks about his inevitable death. He whistles for Clov.

Clov returns. He has the alarm clock. Clov’s return surprises Hamm. Clov assures Hamm that he left in spirit, even if he is physically still present. He tells Hamm that the rat escaped, then agrees that it is time to administer Hamm’s medicine. However, he announces that their supply of painkiller has run out. He places the alarm clock on the ground and hums to himself. Hamm tells him to stop humming and to look out the window at the earth. Climbing the ladder, Clov looks through the window and sees nothing but sea. This confuses him until he realizes that he has been looking through the wrong window. He does not understand why Hamm keeps asking him what has happened, and finally Hamm says that it doesn’t matter. Clov reminds Hamm how he refused Mother Pegg’s request for lamp oil. He accuses Hamm of knowing she would die in the darkness. Hamm insists weakly that he did not have enough oil. Clov does not believe him. Wondering aloud why he even does as Hamm tells him, Hamm suggests that he obeys out of “a kind of great compassion” (45).

Clov moves Hamm’s chair as he searches for the telescope. The change in position frightens Hamm, and he insists that he be moved back. When Clov finds the telescope, Hamm requests his dog. Clov, annoyed, gets the dog and uses it to hit Hamm, who responds by telling Clov to hit him with an axe instead. Taking his dog, he asks to be put into a coffin. Clov says that there are no coffins left. He climbs his ladder with the telescope and hears Hamm mumbling. Hamm says that he is preparing a final, long soliloquy. Clov spots a small boy in the distance. Taking the gaff, he says he will go to investigate, implying that he will kill the “potential procreator” (46). Hamm, however, says that there’s no need to go anywhere. If the boy exists, he will either come inside or die outside. Hamm announces that they have reached the end. He no longer needs Clov. He tells Clov to go but to leave the gaff. Before Clov can leave, however, Hamm asks for a final favor. He asks Clov to tell him something “from [his] heart” (47). Clov mumbles something about love and friendship. He thinks aloud about how he has suffered from the pain of being alive but insists that everything will end. When he dies, he says, he will cry with happiness.

As Clov is about to leave, Hamm stops him again. Hamm thanks Clov for everything. Clov returns the thanks. Hamm asks Clov to cover him with the sheet before leaving. Clov does not hear him, however, as he has already exited. Hamm grabs the gaff and tries (and fails) to move his chair. Clov returns, dressed for the road. Hamm does not realize that Clov has returned. He hurls the gaff away. He wipes his glasses and recalls a few lines of poetry (from Recueillement by Baudelaire). Then, he returns to his story. Hamm describes how the pale man asked Hamm whether he could fetch his son. Hamm calls out for his father. No one responds. Hamm shouts out, saying “we’re coming” (49). He throws away his whistle and his dog. He calls for Clov. No one responds. Unfolding his handkerchief, Hamm says to himself “you remain” (50). Laying the handkerchief across his face, he stops moving.