Perhaps I haven't ....... not exactly it either. | Waiting for Godot By Samuel Beckett | Eureka Study Aids

Perhaps I haven't got it quite right. He wants to mollify me, so that I'll give up the idea of parting with him. No, that's not exactly it either.

Perhaps I haven't .......... not exactly it either.

Reference

(i) Drama: Waiting for Godot

(ii) Dramatist: Samuel Beckett

Context

(i) Occurrence: Act I

(ii) Content: Two men, Vladimir and Estragon, meet near a tree. They wait there for a man named Godot. Two other men enter; Pozzo is on his way to the market to sell his slave, Lucky. He pauses for a while to converse with Vladimir and Estragon. After Pozzo and Lucky leave, a boy, a messenger form Godot, enters and tells Vladimir that Godot will not come tonight. Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave. The next night, Vladimir and Estragon again meet near the tree to wait for Godot. Lucky and Pozzo enter again, but this time Pozzo is blind and Lucky is dumb. They leave and Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait. The boy enters and once again tells Vladimir that Godot will not come. Estragon and Vladimir decide to leave.

Explanation

     In these lines Pozzo it telling Estragon and Vladimir the reason of his assistant's docility and servility. Lucky is Pozzo's dutiful assistant who, unlike a slave, internalizes his own oppression. By means of a rope tied around his neck, Lucky obediently pulls Pozzo along a road to nowhere. He responds to Pozzo's every condescending, monosyllabic command and unfailingly holds his bags even whey they are at standstill. They encounter the bystanders Estragon and Vladimir who are waiting in vain for a man named Godot. They wish to know why Lucky does not put down Pozzo's bags down to make himself more comfortable. Pozzo unequivocally explains that Lucky has not put the bags down because he has not chosen to do so. However, Pozzo has not got it quite right. He assumes that by doing so Lucky wants to impress him. He wishes to soften his master's feelings for him so that he will keep hem and not sell in the market. In fact, Lucky does not want to part with Pozzo. Pozzo's statement "No, that's not exactly it either" suggests that there might be other reasons of Lucky's excessive obedience for him. 

Notes Prepared By: Prof. Shahbaz Asghar