University of Tabriz Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages Department of English Language and Literature The thesis is Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Language and Literature Title Literary Techniques’ Power in Treating Life’s Absurdity, Regarding Samuel Beckett’s Trilogy Supervisor Dr. Pouralifard, Akram Advisor Dr. Sabouri, Hussein Researcher Shuhaib, Mahdi Hussein Abbood December 2020 I II This work is dedicated to those watchful eyes of my mother, and that industrious heart of my father. I would like to dedicate it to my patient wife and sons as well. III Acknowledgment My great supervisor Dr. Pouralifard, it’s fair to thank you for all of your patience and hospitality, in evaluating and adjusting my knowledge. All the gratitude to my admirable advisor Dr. Sabouri. Bundle of thanks to Dr. Ameri Dr. Massiha for sharing their knowledge with us over all these years. IV Surname: Shuhaib Name: Mahdi Hussein Abbood Thesis Title: Literary Techniques’ Power in Treating Life’s Absurdity, Regarding Samuel Beckett’s Trilogy Supervisor(s): Dr. Pouralifard, Akram Advisor(s): Dr. Sabouri, Hussein Degree: Master of Arts Major: English Language Field: Literature University: Tabriz Faculty: Persian Literature and Foreign Languages Graduation Date: Pages: 80 Keywords: Absurdism, Minimalism, Modernism, Anti-novel, Literary Techniques. Abstract Literature is a machine working to express ideas, thoughts, theories, and feelings. The products of the machine, the literary genres, are of different shapes and lengths. The tools of the machine are literary techniques without which literature may not make any sense. Such a perspective necessitated this research to investigate the power of literary techniques in implying a certain point of view i.e., ‘Absurdity of life’. The ironical and satirical constructs explicating this theme in Samuel Beckett’s trilogy, which aims at the implication of a certain concept of life after WWII, are the foci of this thesis. The researcher, furthermore, has tried to connect the dots between the work itself and the general concept of minimalism, alongside the notion of ‘Anti-novel’. This thesis uses the theory of Formalism as an opposition to Romanticism and Marxism. Formalism mainly reads the text closely; to manifest the contradictory meanings of this text. It simply means to discover the beyond- V existence origins. This thesis attempts at depicting the power of literary techniques used in Beckett’s trilogy as a descriptive analysis approach. A close reading of the text is done explicate the symbolic manifestations of absurdity. As the main finding of this study which draws on analyzing the satirical and ironical tone of the work, Beckett is not in opposition of life and its creator but abhors the systems which inflicted this absurdity upon life and made it meaningless and threadbare. VI Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... III Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................... IV Abstract ............................................................................................................................... V Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. VII Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One:Literary Technique’ Analisys in Trilogy .................................................... 6 Chapter Two: Minimalism and Anti-novel in Trilogy ................................................... 53 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 67 Works Cited ........................................................................................................................ 69 VII Introduction The needs of human beings have forced them to apply touchable variations to the world. Due to the chronological formation of thoughts and theories, literature was one of the most effective variations in this life. Many provocative questions might have been raised by writers throughout their works about the current life. Some of these questions are intentionally raised by the author and some were perceived by critics. The relationship between literature and other human traits, like wars, revolutions, political issues, and decisions, is a reciprocal one. Each has been influenced by the other. Among other creations, Art is commonly acknowledged to be created when the artist is under the strain of interrogative pressure. For a long time, Wars have always affected writers and authors in all literary genres, especially fictional works. Wars have generally been a testimony to chaos and corruption, which in turn, have been influential on all systems of societies and governments. This has led to some kind of uncertainty and people started questioning the goal of life. This uncertainty was caused by constantly shifting values and traditions. It forced intellectuals, like Beckett to metamorphose at each instant into new beings, who in turn, struggled to create meaning through language. Critics considered that the most creative period of Beckett's literary career was from 1947 until his death. A Beckettian hero rejects the silent freedom, particularly in Beckett’s trilogy. The paradoxes which always attack Beckett's thoughts have led critics to interpret his potential both comically and tragically. Esslin wrote that Beckett used to avoid all personal errors, expecting each member of his readers to draw his conclusion, making his errors. (Esslin XVI) An imperative goal of Beckett’s works is to expose the ultimate absurdity of life. Many studies condensed the theatrical performance of Samuel Beckett, but this study, at variance, sails into the literary techniques’ ocean, which he used in these controversial novels. Beckett 1 had a strong intention to continue his investigation about human fate. The words of every hero in Beckett's trilogy summarize the attitude of both Beckett as an individual and each of his characters as another individual towards the human condition. Bastable asserts that the suffering of waiting which can be touchable in Molloy's situation is the same as what was interpreted in Waiting for Godot, but as another type of genre. (35) By tracing the sequence of literary works before global disasters, especially WWII, critics have noticed the lack of human ethics caused by depravity, poverty, and hunger, which found reflection in literary works. These works have been introduced by authors who have experienced those disasters or felt sympathetic towards the affected people. The incredible apocalyptic thoughts, which have been introduced in such works, under the impact of the crisis, following the war, have tried to sketch the end of the world in Beckett’s opinion. The loss of hope and feeling of absurdity in western society caused by the crises initiated by WWII address the problem of this thesis. The researcher aims to analyze the quotations describing the different affections of literary techniques that gave this power to words. How can we explain that fictional art can loom this despair through paradoxical fiction? Many writers have scrutinized the apocalyptic sensation and the loss of identity in postmodern literary works that address the pessimistic vantage point on human salvation. This study aims to analyze the sides of human being’s weaknesses and disbeliefs, depicted through the power of fictional language, and literary techniques in Beckett’s trilogy which is a representation of his idealism. The way Becket utilizes these techniques in his trilogy to highlight the plight of man after WWII is the focal point of this investigation. The significance of this study lies in the fact that the perspective from which it aims to study Beckett’s trilogy is a different one. It examines the power of language and its efficacy in depicting the sense of absurdity in the postmodern mind, which led him to act paradoxically. 2 The postmodern man came to question doctrines and traditions. This evanescence of life’s meaning is associated with the loss of faith, the disappearance of sacramental habits and superstitions. But this despair and degradation are needful to accomplish innovation. (Esslin 50). This descriptive study will demonstrate the researcher’s judgment as analytical criticism. From what has been introduced above, the researcher may tend to ask some questions, which can be a seductive tool to complete this investigation. First, what are the samples of human disbelief in salvation in the post-WWII era regarding the trilogy’s quotations? The answer to this question may reveal the true face of Beckett’s theory about absurdity. The second question is, how did Beckett treat reality’s absurdity through literary techniques? It acts as a brief visualization of the idea of salvation in Beckett’s vision. The third question is, can we consider Beckett as a minimalist at his early life due to the style he uses in this trilogy? The investigation of this question will help us to judge whether this trilogy marks the beginning of Beckett as a minimalist, or not. A host of critics and researchers have directed studies on absurdity and its significance in post-modern literary works. Hirth, in her Absurdity and Artistry in Twentieth-Century American War Literature, argued that absurdity is a more constructive tool for investigating authors’ artistic and stylistic portraits of war particularly in the second half of the twentieth century. She mentioned that absurd fictions contain comic exaggeration, parody, black humor, surrealism, the fantastic, and a general subversion of the traditional novel’s form. Hirth, however, is silent about the optimistic side of this fiction that is a focal point of the present study. On another hand, Humphreys, in his thesis entitled Apocalyptic Narratives in the Postmodern Novel, demonstrates the close relationship between the apocalyptic sense and Postmodernism through society's concern throughout history. While Babalola, in her Absurd Realism in Postmodern American fiction: Wallace, Pynchon, and Tomasula, illustrates how the features of absurd realism portray a postmodern world pervaded by boredom and chaos but 3