MEANING OF EXISTENCE: THE REPRESENTATION OF TIME AND MEMORY IN SAMUEL BECKETT’S FICTION

Abstract

Samuel Beckett’s literary style is noted for its minimalism, geometric precision, experimentation and the subject of how time and memory work in human mind is essential to his fiction. Beckett’s depiction of these subjects reflects his greater philosophical interest in existentialism and the absurd, which depicts human life as a collection of unconnected and sometimes contradicting experiences. His characters commonly struggle with the incapacity to recollect their pasts clearly or comprehend their present, trapping them in a condition of temporal and memory dislocation. This paper investigate Beckett’s nonlinear interpretation of time and his portrayal of memory as an untrustworthy narrative technique, examining how these themes combine to construct his characters’ broken identities. This paper also examine significant works such as Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, and Waiting for Godot to show how Beckett employs time and memory as forces of fragmentation and existential ambiguity, rather than tools of narrative advancement.