A Bare Interior

Much of Hamm's behavior in Endgame suggests indifference towards the world. Hamm berates and belittles his cohabitants with terse commands ("Silence!"), rude observations ("You pollute the air!"), and unabashed admissions ("There are no more sugar plums!") (124, 92, 130). His abuse is physical, too: Hamm keeps his parents, Nagg and Nell, "bottled" in human litter boxes and his companion Clov constantly occupied with meaningless tasks. Hamm demonstrates little concern for other people and summarizes his attitude in a response to Clov: "to hell with the universe" (122).

Yet other evidence suggests that this self-centered behavior is the bluff of a scared man that does indeed depend on his external environment. Hamm is incapacitated: he has no sight and cannot move from a chair in the center of a room's "bare interior" (89). The abilities to see and to explore can allow an individual to master an environment; deprived of those abilities, Hamm can only feel isolated and insignificant. Indeed, he likens himself to a "speck in the void, in the dark" (115). Nagg verifies his son's sense of isolation when he tells an anecdote about Hamm, as a "tiny boy," calling for his father because he was "frightened, in the dark" and Nagg was his "only hope" (130). Not only has Hamm always felt alone, he's also always depended on others for comfort. If, as a child in the night, comfort was Hamm's father, as a man in the bare interior, comfort is Clov and conversation.

Hamm and Clov depend on their interactions together to stave off silence, stillness, and isolation. When Clov wonders what keeps him in Hamm's company, Hamm replies, "the dialogue" (132). Hamm and Clov engage in a near-constant dialogue of words and actions. The two men may feign bitterness towards each other, but each seems to benefit from the engagement. This dependency is never clearer than when Hamm imagines Clov's departure:

   
     HAMM: If you leave me how shall I know?
     CLOV: [briskly] Well you simply whistle me and if I don't come running it means I've left you

     HAMM: You won't come and kiss me goodbye?

Hamm's last remark might be disingenuous, but from the length of the discussion (Hamm continues to ponder how he'd know if Clov had left him), it's clear that Hamm fears Clov's absence. Contrary to his indifferent attitude, Hamm depends on the people around him.