Stop Waiting for Godot
Let's stop waiting for Godot and take action to build the life and society we desire.
Originally published at anthemism.org/article/godot on May 16, 2025.
The playwright Samuel Beckett won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969, largely because of his play Waiting for Godot (pronounced "Goh-doh," with a silent "t"). Its plot follows two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting by a tree for someone named Godot, hoping he will bring meaning or purpose to their lives. They talk, pass the time with small tasks, and meet a couple of other characters with whom they have meaningless conversations. Godot never shows up.
The irony is that nothing actually happens in the play, yet people watch it mesmerized and give it standing ovations. Why has it received such acclaim? Because in the characters who are doing nothing and waiting for this Godot figure, the audience recognizes, in every aimless minute of conversation, a whole day of their own life—a microcosm of their own existence.
Unlike the pair waiting for Godot, Don Quixote did not wait. Don Quixote, the iconic character from Miguel de Cervantes' novel, is a man driven by his ideals of chivalry and justice. Believing himself to be a knight-errant, he sets out on grand quests to fight evil and defend the helpless. He is determined to change the world, even though much of what he encounters is an illusion—like his famous battle with windmills, which he mistakes for giants. Despite his noble intentions, his efforts are misguided, and he ultimately spends his life fighting imaginary battles, unable to make a real impact on the world around him.
So, who is right? Don Quixote, living in the illusion that he is fighting for good, taking action and striving for change, even if misguided? Or the pair waiting for Godot, doing nothing, hoping that someone or something will eventually come to their rescue?
Actually, neither is right, and there is a better way forward. Let's see what Ayn Rand has to say about it through her protagonist in Atlas Shrugged:
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours.
Examples from History
Throughout history, individuals who refused to “wait for Godot” have shaped our world. Unlike Vladimir and Estragon, they pursued their own values and ambitions. In doing so, they often faced opposition, ridicule, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet persevered because they valued their vision and refused to compromise. Examine some of these remarkable individuals across various fields by accessing the full article.
Examples from Fiction
Aristotle said that “poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.” Therefore, although there are actual real people that embodied individualism and success, it’s even more important to consider fictional symbols.
Many fictional characters, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet, Raskolnikov, the Karamazov brothers, and Grenouille (from Patrick Süskind’s Perfume), ultimately fail in their attempts to defy societal constraints and achieve their goals. Their misguided efforts often lead to destruction and despair.
In contrast, there are other characters who show us that denying the status quo is far from futile. Examine some of these remarkable characters by accessing the full article.
Why Go Anthem?
The idea behind Anthemism or “going anthem” is the belief that if we want a better political society, we must build it ourselves from scratch. Trying to reform a large country is merely "waiting for Godot"—hoping for change without taking effective action ourselves.
It is true, that over the long term, things always get better. History is shaped by ideas, and in the end, good ideas prevail. After all, we are no longer cavemen. But, hey, it might take a thousand years. For example, it took about two hundred years for Rome to evolve into a theocracy, which then lasted for a thousand years. Only when Aristotle's ideas were rediscovered did the Renaissance begin, signaling a new era of thought.
Those who are dissatisfied with the system, simply adapt and play along, believing things will eventually change for the better. But doing nothing allows the same problems to repeat, generation after generation. Our children will inherit the issues we fail to address today.
Enough waiting for Godot! The path forward isn't passive waiting, nor is it fighting windmills like Don Quixote. If you're ready to take action instead of waiting around, join the Anthemism project.