Aging Essay, Research Paper

During a story, an author sometimes chooses to include his opinions on certain important issues, such as aging. This applies to Samuel Beckett?s short story, Krapp?s Last Tape. In this story an old man named Mr. Krapp, relives his life through a sort of audio journal that he has kept through the years. These tapes show how the author feels about aging.

Mr. Krapp is an old man, whose only company is his tape player and the lonely, solemn thoughts in his mind. This environment is Samuel Beckett?s theory of the aging process. The process is depressing and isolating. Where a human, in order to feel alive, must relive his life and imagine what he could have done differently. The man will dwell on his mistakes and reinvents his life where he makes all the right choices. This is shown in Beckett?s short story Krapp?s Last Tape, where Krapp is listening to a tape that explains the mistakes that he made in his relationship with a lady friend. He relives this last moment with her over and over, where one can imagine what regrets he had in letting that beautiful moment pass without a second thought.

Beckett believes that when one becomes old, the best memories that a man has are just not good enough. He is remorseful for the things he did that led him into an unhappy life. Yet, he is also regretful for the happy memories that just were not happy enough. Beckett believes in seizing the moment, before it is just a memory that could have been great.