After reading the stories in More Pricks than Kicks, one
passage stood out to me: It came from the work “Ding-Dong” and
can be found on page 102 of The Selected Works. In this passage Belacqua comes
across a little girl who has been run over by a bus. However,
rather than show any concern for the girl, Belacqua notices the state of the
food she was carrying. “The good milk was all over the road and the loaf, which
had sustained no injury, was sitting up against the kerb” (102). It struck me
as odd that he was more concerned about the “good milk” than the
girl. However, the story of the girl is not over yet. There were also
spectators who were waiting in line for a movie. “The queue standing for the
Palace Cinema was torn between conflicting desires to keep their places and to
see the excitement” (102). Yet there is still no concern for the person harmed. The
movie goers seem to only be worried about satisfying their thirst for
entertainment. Whether it is making it into the movie or seeing live
excitement, they could care less about the person who was harmed. I
read on, and I saw one last hope that someone might help the girl. Another girl
stepped out of the line. However, her intentions were not with the dead person
in mind. “Only one girl, debauched in appearance and swathed in a black
blanket, fell out near the sting of the queue and secured the loaf” (103). Once
again the unaffected person was only concerned with her own needs.
My original
explanation of the nonchalant attitudes held by the bystanders was that they
only cared about themselves. However, when I looked again, I came up with
a different answer. From what I gathered in the text, I realized that the girl
was probably beyond help at that point. Death is inevitable, so logically these
people have no reason to mourn this stranger. Since she cannot be helped, they
should focus on something that can be done. They can use the food to keep
themselves alive. At the end of the day, life goes on, and we must do our best
to get ourselves through it.
To end on a lighter note, here is a comic about death:
(www.xkcd.com/1065/)
To end on a lighter note, here is a comic about death:
You did an excellent job in looking at the precise descriptions Beckett uses for many objects as well as how they relate to the absurdity of the situation unfolding. Quotes from the text were placed in the post appropriately and there was clear comprehension in how these related to the overall theme being the apathy of death. These people are too obsessed with themselves and the material world to truly give a damn about anything that exist out of that even the course of death. The comic was a good piece that worked with the theme while being in a lighter tone than Beckett.
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