VLADIMIR
You want to get rid of him?
POZZO
He wants to cod me, but he won't.
VLADIMIR
You want to get rid of him?
POZZO
He imagines that when I see how well he carries I'll be tempted to keep him on in that capacity.
ESTRAGON
You've had enough of him?
POZZO
In reality he carries like a pig. It's not his job.
VLADIMIR
You want to get rid of him?
POZZO
He imagines that when I see him indefatigable I'll regret my decision.
[…]
VLADIMIR
You want to get rid of him?
POZZO
Remark that I might just as well have been in his shoes and he in mine. If chance had not willed otherwise. To each one his due.
VLADIMIR
You waagerrim?
POZZO
I beg your pardon?
VLADIMIR
You want to get rid of him?
POZZO
I do. (1.437-450)
Vladimir asks his question five times without response. It’s not until he slurs his speech that he is able to communicate effectively with Pozzo—just another example of the backwards logic of Waiting for Godot.
VLADIMIR
Charming evening we're having.
ESTRAGON
Unforgettable.
VLADIMIR
And it's not over.
ESTRAGON
Apparently not.
VLADIMIR
It's only beginning.
ESTRAGON
It's awful.
VLADIMIR
Worse than the pantomime.
ESTRAGON
The circus.
VLADIMIR
The music-hall.
ESTRAGON
The circus. (1.486-495)
At first, Estragon’s habit of repeating the same line in an exchange seems absurd. But it makes an interesting point: neither of them was saying anything new anyway. Repeating "the circus" is no less useful than listing off another synonym for "cheap entertainment."
VLADIMIR
(to Pozzo) Tell him to think.
POZZO
Give him his hat.
VLADIMIR
His hat?
POZZO
He can't think without his hat. (1.621-4)
Actions are restricted by absurd rules in Waiting for Godot. The bowler hat itself is already a comic symbol, thanks to Charlie Chaplin, so the dependence of something so vital—thinking—on such a trivial object is doubly ridiculous.