ABSTRACT
The ‘extracircumferential phenomena’ from which the artist shrinks are those of ordinary consciousness, of the so-called ‘reality’ outside the circumference of the self; Samuel Beckett true task is to explore what he is: ‘The heart of the cauliflower or the ideal core of the onion would represent a more appropriate tribute to the labours of poetical excavation than the crown of bay.’ Murphy is the most accessible of Beckett’s novels, but its contribution to the excavation of the hidden self is limited to breaking up the surface by presenting the ludicrous incompatibility of the two worlds in which men live, and the futility of attempts to palliate or escape the consequent pains. In terms of the descent towards the centre, Beckett has begun the trilogy with the paired images of two pseudo-selves, vainly seeking, and slowly disintegrating into approximations to what they seek.
