ESTRAGON
Do you remember the day I threw myself into the Rhone?
VLADIMIR
We were grape harvesting.
ESTRAGON
You fished me out.
VLADIMIR
That's all dead and buried.
ESTRAGON
My clothes dried in the sun.
VLADIMIR
There's no good harking back on that. Come on.
He draws him after him. As before.
ESTRAGON
Wait!
VLADIMIR
I'm cold!
ESTRAGON
Wait! (He moves away from Vladimir.) I sometimes wonder if we wouldn't have been better off alone, each one for himself. (He crosses the stage and sits down on the mound.) We weren't made for the same road. (1.846-54)
The men seem to be talking about a suicide attempt on Estragon’s part. Notice that the discussion of Vladimir saving his life prompts Gogo to remark that maybe they’d be better off alone. If they had been "each one for himself," Estragon would have successfully drowned himself. So what he’s really saying is, maybe it would be better if he were dead.
ESTRAGON
It'd be better if we parted.
VLADIMIR
You always say that and you always come crawling back.
ESTRAGON
The best thing would be to kill me, like the other.
VLADIMIR
What other? (Pause.) What other?
ESTRAGON
Like billions of others.
VLADIMIR
(sententious) To every man his little cross. (He sighs.) Till he dies. (Afterthought.) And is forgotten. (2.85-91)
Both men seem to see death as some sort of relief or end; for Estragon, it is "the best thing" and for Vladimir it is the end of each man’s personal crucifixion. It follows, then, that they are not only waiting for Godot, but waiting for death.
ESTRAGON
All the dead voices.
VLADIMIR
They make a noise like wings.
ESTRAGON
Like leaves.
VLADIMIR
Like sand.
ESTRAGON
Like leaves.
Silence.
VLADIMIR
They all speak at once.
ESTRAGON
Each one to itself.
Silence.
VLADIMIR
Rather they whisper.
ESTRAGON
They rustle.
VLADIMIR
They murmur.
ESTRAGON
They rustle.
Silence.
VLADIMIR
What do they say?
ESTRAGON
They talk about their lives.
VLADIMIR
To have lived is not enough for them.
ESTRAGON
They have to talk about it.
VLADIMIR
To be dead is not enough for them.
ESTRAGON
It is not sufficient.
Silence.
VLADIMIR
They make a noise like feathers.
ESTRAGON
Like leaves.
VLADIMIR
Likes ashes.
ESTRAGON
Like leaves. (2.98-118)
This is arguably the darkest moment in Waiting for Godot, and it pretty much comes out of nowhere. It is disturbing that both men are in utter agreement about the voices they hear; it means either that the noises of the dead are a real, shared experience or that one man is willing to indulge the macabre fantasies of the other. Check out the three pairings of repetition in Estragon’s line. First "like leaves" is repeated twice, then "they rustle," and finally "like leaves" yet again. The repetition is par for the course in Waiting for Godot—a reminder of cycles and absurdity. But the image of leaves is also cyclic—just think about the tree that has sprouted overnight.