The Reader's Presence

 I want to focus on the reader’s involvement in a Beckett story which I will be looking specifically at the relationship developed in Beckett’s “Love and Lethe.” In most of Beckett's short stories, I envision myself in a small, dimly lit room with two plain chairs that are surrounded by one way mirrors. Beckett sits in the chair across from me and he narrates the story as I watch the dialogue unfold on the other end of the mirror. I chose “Love and Lethe” because I felt this was a text that really got the reader engaged in the story, and I will be looking at how Beckett addresses the reader as well as how he gets the reader to participate.
There are a few instances where Beckett directly addresses the reader by either name (reader) or with the use of a pronoun (you & we with the ‘we’ being the reader and Beckett). The other instances where Beckett invites the reader into the story comes with his questions and side notes about the situation unfolding. The questions give the reader a better grasp on the story's plot/characters by asking them rhetorically what they would do/think such as “Is it to be condemned as wholly despicable?”

The side noting is especially what is important about understanding the reader’s omnipresence because it is something that gets addressed in a larger variety of Beckett works as opposed to the questioning and direct addressing to the reader. Side noting is how Beckett will take you away from the scene for a minute to comprehend a character’s traits/past/emotions. Many authors have used this third person omniscient model to elaborate on their characters, but Beckett does so in a way that makes it seem he is talking directly to the reader instead of some empty void. An example out of this story is “Mrs. Tough was used to the whims of Ruby and took them philosophically usually. But this latest fancy was really a little bit too unheard of. Coffee in the lav! What would father say when he heard? However.” I feel with this that the light on the one way mirror has dimmed down, and  Beckett and I alone in a room together, but as soon as he says 'however' there becomes a change in the lighting that will either continue the scene or jump to the next one.

 I am in no way sure if this is what Beckett intended for in the narrator-reader relationship, but I have envisioned myself thus far as a character hanging around Beckett in that small, dimly lit room. Next week I may try to analyze the reader's involvement within a Beckett novel or try to look for a new dualism for reflection.