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SIMON CRITCHLEY
1thereis a relentlesspursuit,acrossandbymeans
In Beckett'sTrilogy,
ofnarrative,
ofthatwhichnarrationcannotcapture,namelytheradical unrepresentability
of death.Yet-and this is the paradoxupon
theentirety
ofBeckett'sfictionturns-to conveythis
which,arguably,
radicalunrepresentability,
theTrilogy
theunrepresentmustrepresent
able. That is to say,it must constructa seriesof representations,
a
"a galleryofmoribunds"(T,126),
litanyofvoices,names,andfigures,
thatrevolveor"wheel"(T.270)arounda narrative
voiceorprotagonist,
passingin succession.These wheelingfigures,these "delegates"(T,
272),havenamesthathavelongbecomefamiliar:Molloy(butalso Dan
JacquesMoran,2Malone,
Mahood
[T,181,MelloseandMollose(T,1031),
and
(butalso "Basil andhis gang"[T,278; 2831,thebilly-in-the-bowl),
Worm.But,in theTrilogy
we also findearlierdelegatesrecalled:Murphy(T,268) and the pseudo-coupleMercier-Camier
(T,272),a minia seriesof "M" names (forgetlibraryofAnglo-Gallo-Hiberno-nyms,
1. Throughout,
I use theabbreviation
T to referto SamuelBeckett,The Beckett
Trilogy
(Molloy;MaloneDies; The Unnamable)(London:Picador,1979).
2. Andhowdoesonepronounce
thesenames?Aretheytobe spokena la fran~aise,
in BritishEnglish,or IrishEnglish?To take the exampleofMoran,is thisto be proonthesecondsyllable,as
nouncedwiththestressonthefirst
syllable,as inIrishEnglish,
in BritishEnglish,orwithequal stresson bothsyllables,as in French?
YFS 93, ThePlace ofMauriceBlanchot,ed.ThomasPepper,?) 1998byYaleUniversity.
114
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
115
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116
Yale FrenchStudies
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
117
Indeed,theybothseemtobe writing
fortheagentGaber,Moranexplicitly,Molloyimplicitlyinsofaras "thequeerone" who takeshispages,
likeGaber,visitson Sundayandis alwaysthirsty,
usuallyforbeer(7T.9;
86; 161).
What underpinsthe symmetry
is the disinterestedness
and disaffection
oftherelationeachoftheprotagonists
maintainstohiswriting,and it is herethatthe disjunctionbetweenthe timeofnarrative
and thetimeofdyingcan mostclearlybe seen.Molloy,finallyin his
mother'sroom,wantsnothingmorethanto be leftalone,to "finish
dying"(T, 9),but "theydo notwantthat."He is thusunderan obligationor "remnantsofa pensum"(T,31) to writestories,althoughthe
originof this obligationis unknownand the storiesare incredible:
"WhatI neednowis stories,it tookme a longtimeto knowthat,and
I'm not certainofit" (T,14).This situationproducesa characteristicformulation
ofBeckett'swriterly
credo:
allyoxymoronic
nottoknowwhatyouwanttosay,
nottobeabletosay
Nottowanttosay,
tostopsaying,
orhardly
whatyouthink
youwanttosay,andnever
ever,
evenintheheatofcomposition.
thatisthething
tokeepinmind,
[T,27]
Itis onlywhenthisis keptinmindthat"thepagesfillwithtrueciphers
at last" (T,60).Moranexpressesa similarlydisaffected
attitudetoward
thewritingofhis "report,"callingit "paltryscrivening"
(T. 121),and
end
"it
not
this
late
of
notingtowardthe
that is
at
stage myrelation
thatI intendto givewayto literature"(T. 139):
ofmoribunds.
Whata rabbleinmyhead,whata gallery
Murphy,
Watt,
havebelieved
Yerk,
Mercier
andalltheothers.
I wouldnever
that-yes,
I havenotbeenabletotellthem.I
I believeitwillingly.
stories.
Stories,
shallnotbeabletotellthisone.[T.126]
Morantellsuntellablestoriesbecausehe is following
orders,although
he admitsthathe is writingnot out of fear,but ratherout of the
deadeningforceof habit,a habit whose implacablenarrativedrive
voicecannot
ofthatwhichthenarrative
opensontotheimpossibility
giveitself,namelydeath.
aboutdeath,when
In contradistinction
toMoran'sinitialcertainty
he visitshis little"plotin perpetuity"
withits gravestone
alreadyin
place (T, 124),Molloywrites:
tomysatisfacbeenabletoconceive
Deathis a condition
I havenever
ofwealandwoe.
cannot
tionandwhichtherefore
godownintheledger
[T,63]
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118
Yale FrenchStudies
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
119
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120
Yale FrenchStudies
I'vedonethatbit.(Pause.Narrativetone.)I calmly
filled
mypipe-the
litit with... letus saya vesta,drewa fewpuffs.
Aah!
meerschaum,
(Pause.)Well,whatis it youwant?(Pause.)[Endgame,35]
Blanchotasks,"Whythesevainstories?"andrespondsthatit is in
orderto people the emptinessof deathinto whichMalone and the
wholegalleryofmoribundsfeeltheyarefalling,"throughanxietyfor
thisemptytimethatis goingtobecometheinfinite
timeofdeath"(Le
livrea venir,310). Storiesbothtryto concealthefailureofnarrative
intosome sortofunitywhile,at
identitybydrawingtheselftogether
the same time, Malone's transcendentsarcasm (For example: "A
streamat longintervalsbestrid-buttohellwithall thisfuckingscento disengagethetimeofnarraery"[T,2541)is directedtowardtrying
tivefromthetimeofdying.Malone triesto silencetheemptinessby
tellingstoriesbutonlysucceedsin lettingtheemptinessspeakas the
storiesbreakdownintomortaltedium.Thus,storiesarea deception,
buta necessarydeception:we cannotfacetheemptinessofdeathwith
themor withoutthem.They returnus insistentlyto the passivity,
and impossibility
ofourdying:"withpracticeI might
ungraspability,
be abletoproducea groanbeforeI die" (T,232).Beckettis oftengivento
thephrase"come andgo,"and it providedthetitlefora 1965dramaticule.13Malone writes:"Because in ordernot to die you mustcome
andgo,comeandgo" (T,213).Storiesenableone to comeandgo,come
andgo,"incessantcomingsandgoings"(T,268),untilonediesand"the
othersgo on, as ifnothinghad happened"(T,214). On.
MY OLD APORETICS: THE SYNTAX OF WEAKNESS
(THE UNNAMABLE)
This experienceofdisjunctionbetweenthetimeofnarrativeand the
in The Unnamable,a bookAdorno
timeofdyingis pushedevenfurther
describesas Beckett's"wahrhaft
ungeheuerlicher
Roman"(trulymonstrousor genuinelycolossalnovel),14
in comparisonto which,and in
the"official
worksofcommitted
oppositiontobothSartreandLukaics,
artlook likechildren'sgames."The openingpagesofThe Unnamable
arethemethodologically
mostself-conscious
where
partoftheTrilogy,
13. In Beckett'sTheCompleteDramaticWorks(London:Faber,1986),351-57, the
phrasecanbefoundon T,168; 170; 176; 178;201; 231; 214; 218; 226; 229; 254; 268;353.
14. Notes to Literature,
vol. 2 (New York:ColumbiaUniversity
Press,1992),90.
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
121
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122
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
123
20. Perhaps.For nothingis the end of the line in Beckett,the line of writing
oninterminably-pour
stretches
finirencore.On thisquestionofendingandbeginning,
one wouldneedto readThe Unnamabletogether
withBeckett'sfinalnovel,Comment
c'est(Paris:Gallimard,1961),a titlewhich,inFrench,
is atleasta possiblequadruplepun
(commentc'est [how it isi, and the infinitive[commencer],
the imperative[commencez!I,andpastparticiple[commenc6I)
oftheverb"tobegin."Thus,evenat theend
ofThe Unnamable,one re-commences
witha further
formin
dissolutionofnarrative
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124
Yale FrenchStudies
381-82.
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
125
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126
a tertius
Oris onetopostulate
gaudens,
meaning
myself,
responsible
forthedoublefailure?
[i.e.ofMahoodandWorm]
ShallI comeuponmy
atlast,bathing
ina smile?I havethefeeling
I shallbe
truecountenance
thisspectacle.
Atnomoment
doI knowwhatI'mtalking
spared
about,
norofwhom.[77310-11]
Ifone is to be capableoflisteningto thevoicesthatspeakfromthe
thenitis at theveryleastnecessaryto suspendthe
pagesoftheTrilogy,
thenarrative
voiceofBeckett'sworkwiththe
hypothesisidentifying
smilingthirdpartyofa controlling
pureconsciousnessand ascribing
thelatterto SamuelBeckett.As Blanchotwrites-rightly-"in literaturethereis no directspeech"(TheInfiniteConversation,
327).That
is-and thisis Blanchot'shypothesis-inBeckett'sworkwe approach
a literaryexperience,
thatspeaksto us in a voice that
an experience,
an incessant,
can be describedas impersonal,neutral,or indifferent:
andindeterminable
voicethatreverberates
interminable,
outsideofall
intimacy,dispossessingthe "I" and deliveringit overto a nameless
outside.Beckett'sworkdrawsthe readerinto a space-the space of
literature-wherea voice intonesobscurely,
drawnon by a speaking
thatdoes notbeginand does notfinish,thatcannotspeakand cannot
butspeak,thatleads languagetowardwhatBlanchotcalls withreference to Commentc'est "an unqualifiablemurmur,"26
whatI will describepresentlyas a buzzing,the tinnitusofexistence.As Blanchot
writes,thisis "strange,strange"(TheInfiniteConversation,
330).
Blanchot'spointaboutthenarrative
voicecanbe restatedbyfollowing a crucialfeatureofBeckett'sprosein the Trilogy.On threeoccasionsin thesecondpartofMolloy(T, 15; 128; 152),we comeacrossthe
words"Not I," employedin a seemingly
innocentwayduringMoran's
thisphrasecomestopervadeThe Unnamablein
monologue.However,
a numberofcrucialpassages,notall ofwhichcan be cited,andwhich
beginto be repeatedwith ever-increasing
frequency-maniaevenAbouta thirdofthewayintoThe Unnamtowardtheendofthetext.27
able, thevoicewrites:
his otherwisecontestablethesisthat,in Beckett'slaterfictionssuchas PingandLessness,Beckettmarches"witheyesopenintotheprisonofstyle"(49).Butwhyshould
in termsofworklessness,
stylebe a prison?Ifstyleis redescribed
thenmightit not,on
be somestrangekindofliberation,
howeverworkless?
thecontrary,
inthemud"in Commentcest,
26. Although
themainreference
is to "themurmur
to murmuring
can alreadybe foundin The Unnamable,initiallyto describe
references
thevoicelessnoiseemittedbyWorm(T,310; 323; 351; 375; 376; 381).
27. See T7292; 315; 319; 326; 355; 369; 370; 371-72; 373; 374; 375; 380; 381.
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
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Yale FrenchStudies
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SIMON
CRITCHLEY
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Yale FrenchStudies
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