Editing Film (film) (section)

====Period in rocking chair====
Finally O sits down opposite the [[Denudation|denuded]] wall, opens the folder, and takes out seven photographs of himself, which he examines in sequence:

# 6 months old – in his mother's arms
# 4 years old – kneeling in an attitude of prayer<ref>The photograph in question is also referenced in ''[[How It Is]]'' (London: Calder, 1964), pp 16,17 and refers to a posed photograph of Beckett when he was four kneeling at his mother's knee. It was taken so that Beatrice Evelyn's sister, Dorothy could paint a subject called 'Bedtime' since it was impractical to have the young child pose for any length of time. – Cronin, A., ''Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist'' (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 20</ref>
# 15 years old – in his [[School uniform#United Kingdom|school blazer]], teaching a dog to beg
# 20 years old – in his [[Academic dress|graduation gown]], receiving his scroll from the [[Rector (academia)|Rector]]
# 21 years old – with his arm around his [[Engagement#Fiancé(e)|fiancée]]
# 25 years old – a newly enlisted man, with a little girl in his arms
# 30 years old – looking over forty, wearing a patch over one eye and looking grim

He spends twice as long on pictures 5 and 6. After he looks at the seventh photograph for a few seconds, he rips it up and drops it on the floor. He then works his way through the rest of the photos in reverse order, looking at each one briefly again and then tearing it up. The photograph of him as an infant must be on a tougher mount and he has some difficulty with that one. “[I]n Beckett the distant past is always more tenacious than recent events.”<ref>Robinson, M., ''The Long Sonata of the Dead: A Study of Samuel Beckett'' (New York: Grove Press, 1969), p 35</ref> Afterwards he rocks slightly, hands holding the armrests and then checks his pulse once more.

O is now in a similar situation to the man in ''[[A Piece of Monologue]]'', who has also destroyed all his old photographs and now stands facing a similarly blank wall.