Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
III. Uluslararası Edebiyat Kültür ve Dil Sempozyumu, Bitlis, Türkiye, 12 - 14 Temmuz 2024, ss.252-257
In Samuel Becket's Waiting for Godot, it is 'darkness' that is waited for. Estragon and Vladimir wait for Godot in the same place every day until darkness falls. They can't leave or stop waiting for Godot before darkness falls. When evening comes, darkness falls; that is, hope ends, and then they stop waiting for the one who will not come. Although darkness means that Godot will not come, it means that Estragon and Vladimir get rid of their burdens: Hope seems to be a burden. The more you hope, the more you expect, and the more you expect, the more tired you get. Waiting for Godot also represents hope for Estragon and Vladimir. On the other hand, darkness pulls them out of their hopeless waiting; that is, it becomes a way of escape. In his novella Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad critically narrates European colonialism in Africa and what happened on the way to colonialism. 'Darkness' symbolizes social, human, and moral decadence; it depicts unknowns, dangers, and spiritual disappearances and expresses the ignorant and dangerous side of Africa in the eyes of Westerners. Conrad also represents the emptiness inside the human being and the savage aspect of colonialism with 'darkness'. In Macbeth, as in his other tragedies, Shakespeare deals with a character who experiences a moral collapse due to his greed for power and who is eventually divinely punished. Darkness as a motif also has an important place in this work. 'Darkness' sometimes covers up the murders committed at night, sometimes provides the necessary environment for the emergence of witches who play an essential role in the play. Lady Macbeth confesses her guilt and burden of conscience in the darkness of a night. The night in which the murder is committed does not meet the day; the reflection of the crimes committed on the earth is also through darkness. This study aims to discuss the critical role of the motif of darkness in the aforementioned works of Samuel Beckett, Joseph Conrad, and William Shakespeare and its effect on the plot, both metaphorically and physically.
Key Words: Darkness motif, Macbeth, Waiting for Godot, Heart of Darkness.