Endgame

by

Samuel Beckett

Nagg Character Analysis

An elderly man who lost his legs years ago in a tandem bike-riding accident with his wife, Nell, Nagg lives in a trashcan that remains stationed next to Hamm’s chair. He periodically pops his head out of this trashcan to listen to and converse with Hamm and Clov, depending on them to feed him pap (a kind of mush) or biscuits. It eventually emerges that Nagg is Hamm’s father, a fact that Hamm holds against him, cursing him for giving him life. Unlike Hamm and Clov, though, Nagg is somewhat good-spirited, even if he often complains about hunger. When he converses with Nell, he reminisces about their old life before launching into a joke about a tailor. He is the only person to find this joke funny, but this doesn’t deter him from having a hearty laugh. Throughout the play, Hamm orders Clov to shut Nagg back in his garbage bin, and Nagg eventually says that he hopes he grows old enough to see Hamm regress to his childlike ways, when he used to call out for his father in the night—a sentiment that seems endearing at first but ultimately suggests that Nagg wants to witness his son become helpless and frightened. After Nagg does go back into his trashcan, Nell falls into a sort of delirium and passes away. At the end of the play, Nagg remains shut inside his trashcan, weeping because Nell has died.

Nagg Quotes in Endgame

The Endgame quotes below are all either spoken by Nagg or refer to Nagg. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Meaning, Narrative, and Engagement Theme Icon
).
Endgame Quotes

CLOV: [fixed gaze, tonelessly] Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.

[Pause.]

Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, there’s a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap.

Related Characters: Clov (speaker), Hamm, Nagg, Nell
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:

NELL: Yes, yes, it’s the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it’s always the same thing. Yes, it’s like the funny story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don’t laugh any more.

Related Characters: Nell (speaker), Hamm, Nagg
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:

NAGG: […] Yes, I hope I’ll live till then, to hear you calling me like when you were a tiny boy, and were frightened, in the dark, and I was your only hope.

Related Characters: Nagg (speaker), Hamm
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
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Nagg Quotes in Endgame

The Endgame quotes below are all either spoken by Nagg or refer to Nagg. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Meaning, Narrative, and Engagement Theme Icon
).
Endgame Quotes

CLOV: [fixed gaze, tonelessly] Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.

[Pause.]

Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, there’s a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap.

Related Characters: Clov (speaker), Hamm, Nagg, Nell
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:

NELL: Yes, yes, it’s the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it’s always the same thing. Yes, it’s like the funny story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don’t laugh any more.

Related Characters: Nell (speaker), Hamm, Nagg
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:

NAGG: […] Yes, I hope I’ll live till then, to hear you calling me like when you were a tiny boy, and were frightened, in the dark, and I was your only hope.

Related Characters: Nagg (speaker), Hamm
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis: