Salesman and Krapp
Most works people read follow the standard good and bad characters but in a few occasions there are no heroes or villains just antiheros. As it is seen in Arthur Miller's plays Death of a Salesman and Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape an antihero is not what anyone would expect to be the main character of a book or play. There are a few classifications that a character must abide by to be an antihero. The main characteristic of these two antiheroes seems to be self-destruction. Nevertheless, an antihero is traditionally defined as a main character in a dramatic or narrative work, characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage. Both characters in these two stories lack any heroic qualities and make no positive impact on any other characters or themselves.
On the awful occasion of his birthday, Krapp was then and is now in the habit of reviewing the past year and "separating the grain from the husks"(Beckett 1651). Willy created a reality for himself where he "knocked 'em cold in Providence"(Miller 1807), and "slaughtered 'em in Boston"(Miller1806). Willy's obsession with acquiring wealth and being a salesman made it impossible for him to do so and thus never reaches his ideal and succeed in life. He isolates memories of value, fertility and nourishment to set against creeping death "when all my dust has settled"(Beckett 1651). Miller's plays Death of a Salesman mainly because of his ideas or goals. No, I wouldn't want them back"(Beckett 1655). We learn about him not from the 69-year-old man, but from his 39-year-old self on the tape he chooses to listen to. It is ironic that he dies for his ideals although they are miscomprehended. The ultimate result of his disillusionment is his suicide. When there was a chance of happiness. Because of this, Krapp feels he has failed because he did not accomplished anything in his life and his death will not mean anything either. As a result they both fail to accomplish what they had intended, hurt the ones they love, and themselves. When people accept an ideal to live by it can be a glorious and noble thing unless they become so obsessed with the ideal that it becomes a burden and they are unable to realize their dream.
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Acceptance Essays
