Krapp, in his late sixties, is listening to the tape he had recorded when he was thirty nine. Then, he decides to record another tape reflecting on that tape. Interestingly, his perspective has changed significantly during those thirty years. Old Krapp says “hard to believe I was ever as bad as that” when he stops listening to his tape. Young Krapp on the tape was certain that what he was doing was right or at least not that wrong. Age has given him more knowledge and morality. But is has also weakened his mind.
During the play Krap sings this song twice. It is noticeable that the song is reflecting his life at the moment.
“Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh-igh,
Shadows--(coughing, then almost inaudible)--of the evening
Steal across the sky.”
He is now an old man, all his “best days” are now gone and his life will now be dark and gloomy. The night represents the death approaching him as well. As he gets closer and closer to death, he has more regrets about his life wants to go back to them. The expression “Once wasn't enough for you” shows how he is willing to live his life again if he was given a chance. However, the young Krapp in his last sentences states, “I wouldn't want them back. Not with the fire in me now. No, I wouldn't want them back.”
Aging has much effect on Krapp’s attitude and thinking. How would he have reacted to the tape if he had heard it in his forties or fivties? What if he was almost eighty when he heard the tape? I can’t imagine how he would have responded to it but it would certainly have been different from what Krapp say about it right now in his sixties.
No comments:
Post a Comment