--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think it's in Malone Dies that…" description: "\"“I think it's in Malone Dies that Beckett's creature is in a kind of prison or hospital. As I recall, he is visited twice a day, slop brought in and sl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/gerald-stern-17981_beckett_i-think-it-s-in-malone-dies-that-beckett_266691.jpg" --- # I think it's in Malone Dies that Beckett's creature is in… ![“I think it's in Malone Dies that Beckett's creature is in a kind of prison or hospital. As I recall, he is visited twice a day, slop brought in and slop taken out. He has a stub of a pencil, a bit of paper. And he asks questions, ten, sven, I don't remember, "Why am I here?" "What day is it?" The…” quote by Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/gerald-stern-17981_beckett_i-think-it-s-in-malone-dies-that-beckett_266691.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/gerald-stern-17981_beckett_i-think-it-s-in-malone-dies-that-beckett_266691.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/gerald-stern-17981_beckett_i-think-it-s-in-malone-dies-that-beckett_266691.jpg) > ““I think it's in Malone Dies that Beckett's creature is in a kind of prison or hospital. As I recall, he is visited twice a day, slop brought in and slop taken out. He has a stub of a pencil, a bit of paper. And he asks questions, ten, sven, I don't remember, "Why am I here?" "What day is it?" The last one, no. 10 maybe, says "Number your answers." This is not just desperation and clinging to something called 'reason'--by his fingertips--that is humanity, shit-smeared, hopeless, and mad humanity--in the face of all denial. Our work is about that. My work.”” [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character trapped in a bleak, institutional setting questions existential questions, exposing the fragile, desperate humanity that clings to reason amidst denial. **In simple terms:** A prisoner asks why he exists, showing human desperation. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of reason in hopelessness. Themes existentialism human condition despair institutional critique Mood somber reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - mental illness - prison life - hospital settings - creative writing - philosophical inquiry Key Concepts nihilism meaninglessness psychological confinement Questions to Reflect On - What does the character's questioning reveal about our own search for meaning? - How does institutional confinement shape identity? A Different Perspective The quote may overemphasize absurdity, ignoring moments of resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beckett/) [Beckett Creature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beckett-creature-2616234/) [Dies Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies-beckett-2616233/) [Humanity Shit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity-shit-2616236/) [Think Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-malone-2616235/) ## Related quotes > [ I would say recently I've gotten back to perusing \[Samuel\] Beckett's novels. Listening to the way Donald Trump speaks without saying anything has made… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duchovny/i-would-say-recently-i-ve-gotten-back-to-perusing-samuel-beckett-s/) [David Duchovny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duchovny/) > [Beckett's 'Stories and Texts for Nothing' is probably my favorite book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-wright/beckett-s-stories-and-texts-for-nothing-is-probably-my-favorite-book/) [Franz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-wright/) > [My exposure to Beckett and to late O'Neill was probably important right at the time I gave up poetry and the novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/my-exposure-to-beckett-and-to-late-o-neill-was-probably-important/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Read the great stuff, but read the stuff that isn't so great, too. Great stuff is very discouraging. If you read only Beckett and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/read-the-great-stuff-but-read-the-stuff-that-isn-t-so-great-too-great/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [“Kyle’s shrill voice interrupted their moment. “Figured you two would turn this into a scout meeting. Will you get your asses up here? People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/kyle-s-shrill-voice-interrupted-their-moment-figured-you-two-would/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“But he did see them dance. He laughed out loud remembering when he’d danced with Kyle. She hardly seemed the same person. And Cole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/but-he-did-see-them-dance-he-laughed-out-loud-remembering-when-he-d/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Beckett kissed each woman’s cheek and said, “Ladies, I was saying thank you for taking such beautiful care of my brother. You’re angels. Selfless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/beckett-kissed-each-woman-s-cheek-and-said-ladies-i-was-saying-thank/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Where’s the bride-to-be?” Beckett held his arms open for Kyle and gave her a gentle hug. “Good on you, Fairy Princess, making an honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/where-s-the-bride-to-be-beckett-held-his-arms-open-for-kyle-and-gave/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Beckett now got half the beating he used to get. Rick didn’t know that with every punch he was pounding his own coffin closed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/beckett-now-got-half-the-beating-he-used-to-get-rick-didn-t-know-that/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“I can’t do this anymore if it’s not with you. Fuck me straight to hell." ~Eve to Beckett”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/i-can-t-do-this-anymore-if-it-s-not-with-you-fuck-me-straight-to-hell/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [In Kamby Bolongo Mean River damage and delusion walk hand in hand, and everything we think we know is gradually called into question. Reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/in-kamby-bolongo-mean-river-damage-and-delusion-walk-hand-in-hand-and/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [Ben Marcus has created an innovative and unflinching portrait of the turmoil of the human condition, providing the reader a most rare gift: something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myla-goldberg/ben-marcus-has-created-an-innovative-and-unflinching-portrait-of-the/) [Myla Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myla-goldberg/) > [“Je suis comme ça. Ou j'oublie tout de suite ou je n'oublie jamais." Samuel BECKETT, En attendant Godot I'm like that. Either I forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/je-suis-comme-a-ou-j-oublie-tout-de-suite-ou-je-n-oublie-jamais/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“And when Deirdre Bair went to interview Beckett for the biography the first thing he said was, ‘So you’ve come to demonstrate that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-parks/and-when-deirdre-bair-went-to-interview-beckett-for-the-biography-the/) [Tim Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-parks/) ## More by Gerald Stern > [“I am going to carry my bed into New York City tonight complete with dangling sheets and ripped blankets; I am going to push…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/i-am-going-to-carry-my-bed-into-new-york-city-tonight-complete-with/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [I've been trying to come to terms with what I am and what I do and what I believe in. And I see that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/i-ve-been-trying-to-come-to-terms-with-what-i-am-and-what-i-do-and/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [Men aren't called pricks, but women are called cunts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/men-aren-t-called-pricks-but-women-are-called-cunts/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [I've changed over my writing life. If I can generalize, I would say that the more recent poems - believe it or not -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/i-ve-changed-over-my-writing-life-if-i-can-generalize-i-would-say/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [There are hundreds of prisons - sexual, political, cultural. But being a prisoner also gives you impetus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/there-are-hundreds-of-prisons-sexual-political-cultural-but-being-a/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [I've spent hundreds of hours working over words, and part of me, a large part of me, has a desire to do something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/i-ve-spent-hundreds-of-hours-working-over-words-and-part-of-me-a/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [In America it's a particular problem. The artist, particularly the poet, is just unacknowledged; if I can use that dumb word. Maybe it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/in-america-it-s-a-particular-problem-the-artist-particularly-the-poet/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [I will look at the footprints going in and out of the water and dream up a small blue good to talk to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/i-will-look-at-the-footprints-going-in-and-out-of-the-water-and-dream/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [It's a kind of liberation to break free in language, if you can break free, but it's also a confinement, because form confines you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/it-s-a-kind-of-liberation-to-break-free-in-language-if-you-can-break/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [I feel that my job, as an artist, is to disturb the peace. And to disturb it intellectually, linguistically, politically and literally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/i-feel-that-my-job-as-an-artist-is-to-disturb-the-peace-and-to/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [Oppressed cultures often envy those which are not, or oppressed individuals do, and sometimes those which - and who - are not envy those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/oppressed-cultures-often-envy-those-which-are-not-or-oppressed/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [The act of writing itself isn't outrageous. And the institution subtly and insidiously works on you in such a way that though you seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/the-act-of-writing-itself-isn-t-outrageous-and-the-institution-subtly/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [“lucky life isn't one long string of horrors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/lucky-life-isn-t-one-long-string-of-horrors/) [gerald stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [The cave is a dark, shadowy place. It's a place that's very close and yet distant at the same time, and it's a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/the-cave-is-a-dark-shadowy-place-it-s-a-place-that-s-very-close-and/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) > [You could be attached to merely a description of a plant or a flower. Or a narrative of an event. Or rage at injustice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stern/you-could-be-attached-to-merely-a-description-of-a-plant-or-a-flower/) [Gerald Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) [Explore all 36 Gerald Stern quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stern/) ## More Beckett quotes > [ I would say recently I've gotten back to perusing \[Samuel\] Beckett's novels. Listening to the way Donald Trump speaks without saying anything has made… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duchovny/i-would-say-recently-i-ve-gotten-back-to-perusing-samuel-beckett-s/) [David Duchovny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duchovny/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Je suis comme ça. Ou j'oublie tout de suite ou je n'oublie jamais." Samuel BECKETT, En attendant Godot I'm like that. Either I forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/je-suis-comme-a-ou-j-oublie-tout-de-suite-ou-je-n-oublie-jamais/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Ben Marcus has created an innovative and unflinching portrait of the turmoil of the human condition, providing the reader a most rare gift: something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myla-goldberg/ben-marcus-has-created-an-innovative-and-unflinching-portrait-of-the/) [Myla Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myla-goldberg/) > [In Kamby Bolongo Mean River damage and delusion walk hand in hand, and everything we think we know is gradually called into question. Reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/in-kamby-bolongo-mean-river-damage-and-delusion-walk-hand-in-hand-and/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [“I can’t do this anymore if it’s not with you. Fuck me straight to hell." ~Eve to Beckett”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/i-can-t-do-this-anymore-if-it-s-not-with-you-fuck-me-straight-to-hell/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Beckett now got half the beating he used to get. Rick didn’t know that with every punch he was pounding his own coffin closed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/beckett-now-got-half-the-beating-he-used-to-get-rick-didn-t-know-that/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Where’s the bride-to-be?” Beckett held his arms open for Kyle and gave her a gentle hug. “Good on you, Fairy Princess, making an honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/where-s-the-bride-to-be-beckett-held-his-arms-open-for-kyle-and-gave/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Beckett kissed each woman’s cheek and said, “Ladies, I was saying thank you for taking such beautiful care of my brother. You’re angels. Selfless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/beckett-kissed-each-woman-s-cheek-and-said-ladies-i-was-saying-thank/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“But he did see them dance. He laughed out loud remembering when he’d danced with Kyle. She hardly seemed the same person. And Cole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/but-he-did-see-them-dance-he-laughed-out-loud-remembering-when-he-d/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [“Kyle’s shrill voice interrupted their moment. “Figured you two would turn this into a scout meeting. Will you get your asses up here? People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/kyle-s-shrill-voice-interrupted-their-moment-figured-you-two-would/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [Read the great stuff, but read the stuff that isn't so great, too. Great stuff is very discouraging. If you read only Beckett and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/read-the-great-stuff-but-read-the-stuff-that-isn-t-so-great-too-great/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [My exposure to Beckett and to late O'Neill was probably important right at the time I gave up poetry and the novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/my-exposure-to-beckett-and-to-late-o-neill-was-probably-important/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Beckett's 'Stories and Texts for Nothing' is probably my favorite book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-wright/beckett-s-stories-and-texts-for-nothing-is-probably-my-favorite-book/) [Franz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-wright/) > [“And when Deirdre Bair went to interview Beckett for the biography the first thing he said was, ‘So you’ve come to demonstrate that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-parks/and-when-deirdre-bair-went-to-interview-beckett-for-the-biography-the/) [Tim Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-parks/) [Browse all 193 Beckett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beckett/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I think it's in Malone Dies that Beckett's creature is in a kind of prison or hospital. As I recall, he is visited twice a day, slop brought in and slop taken out. He has a stub of a pencil, a bit of paper. And he asks questions, ten, sven, I don't remember, \"Why am I here?\" \"What day is it?\" The last one, no. 10 maybe, says \"Number your answers.\" This is not just desperation and clinging to something called 'reason'--by his fingertips--that is humanity, shit-smeared, hopeless, and mad humanity--in the face of all denial. Our work is about that. 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