The Will to Live: a Study of Samuel Beckett’s Molloy

Abstract

The article explores Book One of Beckett’s Trilogy (Molloy) in the context of the author’s explicit rejection of Freud’s rather speculative idea of death drives. In highlighting this rejection Beckett also demonstrates his attempt at incorporating, within his own work, Schopenhauer’s concept of the ‘Will’. Indeed, Beckett modifies and adapts Schopenhauer’s ideas in the creation of his own aesthetic. In particular, this can be seen through the author’s adoption of Schopenhauer’s music analogy. Schopenhauer clearly equates music with his idea of the Will in that melody (in its purest form) is essentially a pattern formed out of sound and, consequently, without the need of visual representation. In a similar way, Beckett seeks to get beyond representation within his own art in order to explore the indelible trace or pattern of human existence. It is this ongoing process which explains the extreme representational reductionism of the later prose and drama.