VLADIMIR
(alarmed) Mr. Pozzo! Come back! We won't hurt you!
Silence.
ESTRAGON
We might try him with other names.
VLADIMIR
I'm afraid he's dying.
ESTRAGON
It'd be amusing.
VLADIMIR
What'd be amusing?
ESTRAGON
To try him with other names, one after the other. It'd pass the time. And we'd be bound to hit on the right one sooner or later.
VLADIMIR
I tell you his name is Pozzo.
ESTRAGON
We'll soon see. (He reflects.) Abel! Abel!
POZZO
Help!
ESTRAGON
Got it in one!
VLADIMIR
I begin to weary of this motif. (2.613-23)
Vladimir is very likely "weary" of the absurdity, but his comment itself is absurd because of its metafictional nature; he seems almost to step out of the play for a moment to observe it objectively—definitely not allowed in rational theater.
VLADIMIR
Pull on your trousers.
ESTRAGON
What?
VLADIMIR
Pull on your trousers.
ESTRAGON
You want me to pull off my trousers?
VLADIMIR
Pull ON your trousers.
ESTRAGON
(realizing his trousers are down) True.
He pulls up his trousers.
VLADIMIR
Well? Shall we go?
ESTRAGON
Yes, let's go.
They do not move. (2.881-88)
The absurd comedy of the trouser bit is matched with the absurd tragedy of Vladimir and Estragon’s inability (or unwillingness?) to move off the stage.
VLADIMIR
Our Saviour. Two thieves. One is supposed to have been saved and the other . . . (he searches for the contrary of saved) . . . damned. (1.64)
Much of the uncertainty in Waiting for Godot is the result of a world in which results are arbitrary. The motif of the 50/50 chance starts here, with the discussion of two thieves, one saved and the other damned for no discernible, discriminating reasons.