Loneliness Kills

Experiencing Literature

Professor Whalen

12 October 2017

Loneliness Kills

The play Happy Days is an ambiguous and peculiar type of play. We are first introduced to Winnie, who is a lively and positive character. Initially, Winnie shows nothing but optimism and the audience watches this optimism sadly dwindle. In this paper I will argue that in order for one to achieve happiness, they must encounter some form of human interaction. Although Winnie is ignored by her husband Willy, his presence and rare responses to her is what keeps Winnie motivated and “happy” everyday.

This primarily one woman show demonstrates the idea of “loneliness kills”. Winnie refuses to allow silence to occur. As soon as Winnie is in the presence of silence, she realizes there is no one there listening to her, no one who cares; she is alone, halfway buried into the ground. Willie’s presence helps, which gives Winnie the incentive to keep talking even though he is ignoring her most of the time. As soon as silence hits, a person can become more in check with things; it enables to the person to more easily reevaluate the current situation they’re in or life in general. Being alone has it’s pros. For instance, according to Psychology Today, solitude gives you an opportunity to discover yourself, find your own voice and provides time for you to think deeply. From the outside the two can seem similar, but there is a difference between being alone and being lonely which Beckett exhibits in the play. Throughout the play Winnie demonstrates the cons to being alone ultimately leading to her breaking down at the end of the play, with Winnie failing to accept that she is in fact alone.

Further discussing Winnie’s unawareness to her isolation, she portrays this when she says “ So that I may say at all times (even when you do not answer and perhaps hear nothing) something of this is being heard. I am not merely talking to myself. That is, in the wilderness. Something I could never bear to do – for any length of time. That is what enables me to go on, go on talking that is. Whereas, if you were to die – or go away and leave me, then what would I do, what could I do all day long?” . Winnie tries to justify her blabbing for Willie’s existence despite the fact that he does not give Winnie the time of day. Another example of Winnie’s failure to recognize this is when she says “Don’t go off on me again now dear will you please, I may need you.” when she doesn’t really need Willie for anything, just for her peace in mind that there is someone listening to her. As humans, I feel like we can relate to Winnie in the sense that we have peace in mind knowing that we are being heard. For instance, some may go to therapy simply to just be listened to, which is comforting.

Willie’s acts of disregard and neglect towards Winnie causes a build up on pain. In today’s society, there are solutions to what Winnie is feeling. As mentioned before, there is therapy, which helps many who are experiencing the same pain as Winnie; unfortunately Winnie does not have access to such help. However, studies have shown that being exposed to sunlight