Endgame

Endgame is implied to take place in a post-apocalyptic world. Though the nature of the apocalypse is not described, references to nuclear fallout—as well as the Cold War backdrop against which the play was written—suggest that a nuclear war has wiped out large swathes of the human population. Those humans that survived are alone. The four characters in the play are trapped in the house as sea levels rise and plants refuse to sprout. In the distance, they may see distant figures, but these figures always remain distant. According to Hamm, such figures will either die outside or inside, if they exist at all. Because of the decimated nature of the human population, because of the finality of a nuclear war which has destroyed the environment, and because of the lingering radiation that threatens anyone outside, loneliness is rampant. There are so few people in the world that, every human interaction has immense significance. Even though the characters make each other miserable, even though they persist in turning their lives into living hells, they cannot endure the loneliness that faces them in the outside world. In the post-apocalyptic setting, loneliness is a rampant disease and the only treatment—human interaction—can cause as much psychological trauma as the disease itself.

The relationship between Clov and Hamm emphasizes this framing of loneliness as an incurable social disease. They are both lonely men. Hamm never fathered children of his own, while Clov lost his biological father at a young age. Together, they form a dependent but antagonistic relationship, with Hamm acting as Clov’s adoptive father. Clov takes care of the physically impaired Hamm, administering Hamm’s painkillers as part of their daily routine. Toward the end of the play, however, Clov reveals that the painkillers have run out. Hamm will no longer be able to numb himself to the pain of his existence—whether the physical pain of his bodily ailments or the psychic pain of loneliness and boredom. There is no one else out there, no one who might arrive at the house and provide a cure to the loneliness that the characters feel. Their only cure is each other and, given the antagonistic nature of their relationship, the treatment for their condition is almost as intolerable as the condition itself. These lonely men are bound together in a painful way.

Nagg and Nell may not be happy, but they have each other to provide some comfort. They have separate garbage cans, and they can raise and lower themselves as they please, though they are unable to make physical contact. Despite these restrictions, they depend on one another for emotional support. When Nell dies, Nagg weeps for his dead wife, not only feeling the grief of her death but the renewed loneliness of his current state. He has no one now, at least no one who can tolerate his reminiscences. Clov begins to recognize the persistent nature of loneliness in the world. For a long time, he has threatened to leave. He imagines killing Hamm, or he wishes that Hamm would die. Each time, however, he finds these ideas intolerable. He knows that he cannot kill Hamm; he knows that he would react to Hamm’s death as Nagg reacted to Nell’s death. Separation from Hamm would be unbearable. Even the prospect of leaving contains the threat of being alone in a barren wasteland. The characters are lonely, but they are keenly aware that they could be much more alone. Clov dresses as though he is about to leave, and then he is presented with the tragic figure of Hamm, who has convinced himself that Clov is gone. Hamm is a genuinely pathetic figure, and Clov exercises the “kind of great compassion” (45) that Hamm accused him of earlier in the play. He stays, choosing this known form of loneliness over the loneliness which might await him in the world outside.