Because the world of Waiting for Godot is set in an indefinite time and place, everyone who appears in it is forcefully stripped of pretension. This is because human beings naturally orient their self-understanding through the concept of time: the past is the store of our achievements and our accumulations, often a source of comfort or pride; the future tends to be understood as a point of leverage—that is, it allows us to direct our actions toward the aim we desire. In the play, however, where the past and the future seem to be completely uncertain, all characters are reduced to the present moment, where they cannot elevate themselves either by summoning forth their acquisitions or by orienting themselves to a definite future improvement. Additionally, since the play is set in an indefinite place, there is no clear place to escape to and nowhere to go in hope of something better.

VLADIMIR: Where do you go from here?

POZZO: On.

It is no coincidence that the character Pozzo, who is defined by pretentiousness, responds negatively to Vladimir’s claim that time has stopped. “Whatever you like, but not that,” he says. The total cessation of time would imply that he can no longer gain in importance. Indeed, in the first act, portending the fall of his character, Pozzo loses several of his possessions, the worst loss of which is his watch. When he returns in the second act, he has become blind, helplessly bumbling, and hostile to questions about time. This might be because he has lost the ability to order and manage his time, which was symbolized by his watch.