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Hamm is an old blind man who is unable to move from his wheeled armchair, which sits at the center of a room with two high windows. A cantankerous man whose mind rarely settles on one topic for very long, Hamm lives with his caretaker, Clov, and his two elderly parents, Nagg and Nell, both of whom he keeps in trashcans next to his chair. The first time the audience sees Hamm, he’s covered in a large sheet, which Clov removes, revealing that Hamm is asleep with a bloody handkerchief draped over his face. Throughout the play, Hamm talks about waiting for an “end” of sorts, perhaps thinking that this end—whatever it is—will stop his suffering and misery, which he recognizes as inherent to life itself. Despite his wish for finality, though, Hamm never finds himself capable of fully embracing his own end (or, for that matter, any kind of end). He sometimes asks Clov to kill him, but this never transpires. In general, he mainly focuses on talking to Clov about whether or not the young man will finally leave him. He also often asks questions about what the world outside looks like, conversing with Clov about the fact that everything outside of his room is “death.” At one point, he tells a story, saying that a man came to him once and asked for his help, explaining that he and his ailing son needed shelter and food. Hamm decided to take them in, and this, it seems, is how Clov came to be his caretaker. In this capacity, Clov obeys Hamm’s orders, though he never gives him painkillers, which Hamm asks for multiple times. By the end of the play, Hamm’s mother, Nell, has died, but he hardly pays attention to the matter, too preoccupied with his odd and halting monologues about suffering and time. The play ends with Hamm putting the bloody handkerchief back on his face, returning to the state of rest he was in at the very beginning of the piece.
Hamm Quotes in Endgame
The Endgame quotes below are all either spoken by Hamm or refer to Hamm. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Endgame Quotes
CLOV: [fixed gaze, tonelessly] Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.
[Pause.]
Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, there’s a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap.
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8
Explanation and Analysis:
Clov speaks these words at the very beginning of the play, just after he has looked out both windows, peered inside Nagg and Nell’s trashcans, and taken the sheet off of Hamm, who is still sleeping. It’s interesting that the very first word of a play called Endgame is “finished,” since this invites audiences to consider one of the play’s primary obsessions: namely, finality and the passage of time. Rather than delivering an opening monologue that jumpstarts the events that are assumingly about to take place, Clov speaks as if everything important has already happened and now he is simply waiting for the play to be over. In keeping with this, he turns his attention to the strange way that time passes, likening this to the piling up of grain. Although one grain doesn’t make a notable difference, the eventual amassing of “grain upon grain” creates a “heap” that is “suddenly” perceptible. The word “suddenly” is important here, since it perfectly captures the way the passage (or accumulation) of time feels—it’s not actually sudden, but the realization that time has passed is almost always abrupt, since humans are apparently incapable of sensing small increments of change. This is perhaps what the audience members will feel by the time the play finally ends. They will, it seems, feel that the play’s end is “sudden” even though they’ll have been waiting for it throughout.
HAMM: […] Can there be misery—
[he yawns]
—loftier than mine? No doubt. Formerly. But now?
[Pause.]
My father?
[Pause.]
My mother?
[Pause.]
My…dog?
[Pause.]
Oh I am willing to believe they suffer as much as such creatures can suffer. But does that mean their sufferings equal mine? No doubt.
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HAMM: […] Enough, it’s time it ended, in the shelter too.
[Pause.]
And yet I hesitate, I hesitate to…to end. Yes, there it is, it’s time it ended and yet I hesitate to—
[he yawns]
—to end.
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CLOV: Yes!
[Pause.]
Of what?
HAMM: Of this…this…thing.
CLOV: I always had.
[Pause.]
Not you?
HAMM: [gloomily] Then there’s no reason for it to change.
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HAMM: […] Why do you stay with me?
CLOV: Why do you keep me?
HAMM: There’s no one else.
CLOV: There’s nowhere else.
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CLOV: […] I’ll leave you, I have things to do.
HAMM: In your kitchen?
CLOV: Yes.
HAMM: What, I’d like to know.
CLOV: I look at the wall.
HAMM: The wall! And what do you see on your wall? Mene, mene? Naked bodies?
CLOV: I see my light dying.
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HAMM: [anguished] What’s happening, what’s happening?
CLOV: Something is taking its course.
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NELL: Yes, yes, it’s the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it’s always the same thing. Yes, it’s like the funny story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don’t laugh any more.
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CLOV: […] [He gets down, picks up the telescope, turns it on auditorium.] I see…a multitude…in transports…of joy.
[Pause.]
That’s what I call a magnifier.
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HAMM: We’re not beginning to…to…meaning something?
CLOV: Mean something! You and I, mean something!
[Brief laugh.]
Ah that’s a good one!
HAMM: I wonder.
[Pause.]
Imagine if a rational being came back to earth, wouldn’t he be liable to get ideas into his head if he observed us long enough.
[Voice of rational being.]
Ah, good, now I see what it is, yes, now I understand what they’re at!
[Clov starts, drops the telescope and begins to scratch his belly with both hands. Normal voice.]
And without going so far as that, we ourselves…
[with emotion]
…we ourselves…at certain moments…
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HAMM: I once knew a madman who thought the end of the world had come. He was a painter—and engraver. I had a great fondness for him. I used to go and see him, in the asylum. I’d take him by the hand and drag him to the window. Look! There! All that rising com! And there! Look! The sails of the herring fleet! All that loveliness!
[Pause.]
He’d snatch away his hand and go back into his comer. Appalled. All he had seen was ashes.
[Pause.]
He alone had been spared.
[Pause.]
Forgotten.
[Pause.]
It appears the case is…was not so…so unusual.
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HAMM: […] Use your head, can’t you, use your head, you’re on earth, there’s no cure for that!
[…]
But what in God’s name do you imagine? That the earth will awake in spring? That the rivers and seas will run with fish again? That there’s manna in heaven still for imbeciles like you?
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NAGG: […] Yes, I hope I’ll live till then, to hear you calling me like when you were a tiny boy, and were frightened, in the dark, and I was your only hope.
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HAMM: […] Did you never hear an aside before?
[Pause.]
I’m warming up for my last soliloquy.
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HAMM: […] Moments for nothing, now as always, time was never and time is over, reckoning closed and story ended.
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Get the entire Endgame LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Hamm Character Timeline in Endgame
The timeline below shows where the character Hamm appears in Endgame. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Endgame
...center, and two trashcans covered in a sheet. Standing near the door, Clov stares at Hamm, who sits in the armchair and is, like the trashcans, covered in a sheet. After...
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...lid, looks inside, laughs, and closes them again. Finally, he takes the sheet off of Hamm, who is sitting in an apparent state of sleep with a bloodied handkerchief draped over...
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...won’t stand for more punishment, deciding to retreat into his kitchen, where he’ll wait for Hamm to summon him with the whistle. Upon exiting, though, he rushes back to collect the...
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Hamm continues to speak in stops and starts, saying nothing in particular that gives the scene...
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Dropping the idea of going to bed, Hamm—who is blind—asks if Clov has ever looked at his eyes while he’s sleeping. When Clov...
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Hamm and Clov’s disjointed conversation continues, and Hamm asks if he’s had enough. At first, Clov...
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Abruptly, Hamm instructs Clov to get him “ready” and to put the sheet back on him, but...
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Despite the fact that nobody else exists and there’s nowhere else to go, Hamm notes that Clov is going to leave him, and Clov admits that he is indeed...
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Clov asks Hamm if he has bled, and Hamm says that he has only bled a little bit....
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The lack (or nonexistence) of bicycles confuses Hamm, who is surprised to hear that Clov never had one. He asks how Clov got...
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As Hamm and Clov talk, the lid of one of the trashcans opens and Nagg, a very...
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Hamm gloats over Nagg, shouting that he’ll never have pap again. However, he tells Clov to...
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Hamm suggests that nature has forgotten about him and Clov, but Clov says there is no...
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...more from his trashcan, this time with the biscuit in his mouth. He listens as Hamm says, “This is not much fun.” After a short pause, Hamm adds that it’s never...
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Nell declines the biscuit, so Nagg asks if she’s feeling unwell. Interrupting, Hamm tells them both to speak quietly because they’re keeping him awake, interrupting his dreams of...
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Nagg laughs heartily at his own story, though Nell remains quiet. From his chair, Hamm yells at him to be quiet, going on to ask why he isn’t finished yet....
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Hamm asks Clov if a man he refers to only as “that old doctor” is dead,...
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Unbothered by Clov’s desire to kill him, Hamm asks what the weather is like, and Clov says that it’s how it always is....
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Clov tells Hamm that the light outside has diminished. In fact, he tells him that it’s completely gone....
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Paying no heed to Hamm, Clov yells out that he’s found a flea on himself. This startles Hamm, who’s surprised...
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Briefly, Hamm considers leaving this place on a raft with Clov, though he worries that sharks—if they...
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After listening to what Hamm has to say, Clov says that he’ll leave, but Hamm says that Clov can’t. In...
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Hamm asks Clov if his dog his ready, and Clov tells him it’s missing a leg....
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Changing the subject, Hamm asks Clov about a woman named Mother Pegg, wondering if her light is on. This...
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Hamm orders Clov to bring him his “gaff,” a hooked spear used by fishermen. As he...
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Paying no attention to Clov, Hamm remembers a “madman” he used to know. When Hamm would visit him, the man would...
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Hamm asks how he’ll know if Clov ever leaves him, and Clov tells him that he’ll...
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Clov begins to pace the room, trying to think about a way to ensure that Hamm will know if he has left or died. As he does so, he complains about...
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Clov declares that the end is “terrific,” but Hamm says he likes the middle better. He then asks for his painkiller, but Clov says...
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Hamm notes that he’s had something dripping in his head ever since he had “fontanelles” (the...
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Hamm tells Nagg that, despite his outburst, he agreed to employ the man, who asked him...
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Nagg demands his sugar plum, but Hamm says there are none. Nagg then launches into a monologue about his role as Hamm’s...
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Clov tries to tidy up, saying he likes order, but Hamm forces him to stop. On Clov’s way toward his kitchen, he wonders aloud what’s keeping...
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Hamm says that he’s tired from the “creative effort” of telling his story. He then tells...
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Hamm makes Clov push him beneath the window, saying that he wants to feel the light...
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After calling out to Nagg, Hamm tells Clov to check on his father. Clov then reports that Nagg is no longer...
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When Clov exits, Hamm refolds his handkerchief, saying that things are progressing toward an end. Putting the handkerchief in...
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Hamm summons Clov with his whistle, and Clov enters holding the alarm clock. Hamm remarks that...
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Hamm asks Clov to look out the window again. While the younger man looks out, Hamm...
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Forgetting about the telescope, Hamm asks for his dog, so Clov picks it up and hits him in the head...
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Clov focuses on looking out the window like Hamm instructed him to do. At first he sees nothing, but then something catches his attention....
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Clov says he’s going to leave Hamm, who asks Clov to say something before he departs. Although Clov claims there’s nothing for...
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Hamm asks Clov to cover him with the sheet, but Clov has already gone into his...
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