The Carafe
Notably, the play is set in a desert. Amazingly, a carafe labeled WATER appears from nowhere. He goes to it and tries to reach it, but it remains out of his reach. The one thing he needs more than anything under his present circumstances and it is out of reach. Could the irony be any sharper? Yes. On two counts, actually. The first being that a small carafe of water may not even be worth all the effort; it certainly won't be enough sustenance to prolong existence
The Cubes
The irony gets even sharper, however. Maybe a small carafe of water won’t be enough to prolong existence, but at least it will provide temporary relief, meet a pressing need and satiate what would otherwise prove to be an energy-wasting sense of profound annoyance. And then comes the cubes. Rational though it developed and he realizes he has a way of reaching the carafe that has remained out of reach. Only the cubes are of no assistance as the water remains temptingly beyond grasp.
The Rope
The rope begins as another tool to be used to acquire life-sustaining water. Or, at least, enough water to satisfy immediate thirst. Twice he tries in two completely different fashions to use the rope as assistance in purchasing the water and twice more he is denied. Ironically, what had been viewed as a tool to extend life is now used as a tool to end life; he attempts to hang himself with the rope. More irony: at that exact moment, the boughs of the tree collapse, making it impossible lasso the noose for the use of suicide.
The Whistle
An off-stage, disembodied whistle acts to guide the man’s attention. For much of the play, he only makes a move or decision when he hears the whistles. The various objects which appear from seemingly nowhere do not seem to attract his attention until the whistle alerts him. The whistle is thus an agent of consciousness as well as an agent of temptation. The irony is that it only when his consciousness is raised that he faces temptation and every time he gives into temptation he is disappointed. Much effort and disappointment could have been avoided by simply ignoring the whistle’s implication.
Ignoring the Whistle
The general interpretation is that the man has become so frustrated by the evil influence wielded by the whistling agent of temptation that his pose of silent immobility on which the play ends represents hopelessness and despairs. Other take note that it is only when the man no longer heeds the call of the whistle and ignores its agency at tempter, that the objects which have caused his frustration disappear, thus no longer presenting a vain enticement. This interpretation argues for a much more ironic understanding of the man’s silent immobility. That he has ascended to the same level of the whistle; he is now the one in charge. Or, at the very least, he is no longer under the submission of the manipulator.
