Symbolism In Krapp's Last Tapes

The use of symbols is essential to any proper novel; they may be simple but well placed symbols can tie together important parts of a novel while giving insight to what message the novelist is trying to convey to their readers.
In the Clockwork Orange, the idea of an orange with clockwork in it is a weird concept, however, its works for the concept of the novel. Alex is a street punk who has commits heinous acts with his gang. However, when he was sent to prison, they used The Ludovico Technique to replace his violent tendencies. Even though the term clockwork orange is barely brought up in the text, the idea that it holds is shown. The act of the Ludovico Technique is the embodiment of the concept of a clockwork orange, the act of taking out any natural, organic material and replacing it with artificial substance. This creates a completely unnatural organism that has none of its own natural
property. It refers to replacing natural human wants and desire with artificial beliefs. So even though Alex was a terrible person, it was his natural state but once the government gets their hold on him, he was filled with man-made principles.
In Krapp’s Last Tapes, the symbols are physically placed in nearly every aspect of the play.
Much like the title, Krapp’s tapes are symbols that relates to the idea of memories and human’s ability to organize and retain them. Krapp himself cannot remember every aspect of his life, so during his younger days, he would record major events of his life of his present self. However, from the sheer amount of tapes and speeding through certain section is much like how a human brain goes though memories in order to find a single moment. Krapp, however, is unable to comprehend everything that the tapes play due to his limited understanding. The tapes can also refer to the length of human life, mainly Krapp’s. Each tape is a record of his life, showing how he can reflect on them but cannot change them in anyway due to being recordings of the past. The overall idea is humans spend too much time reflecting on the past while our present is going on without us. And upon the last tape playing and rewinding, it seems that his own life is fading away, representing the end of his
life.
In the hours, there are a multitude of symbols spread throughout the novel amongst all the different routes of the book. Depending on the sections, the major symbol changes from chapter to chapter. One prominent symbol would be yellow roses that appear in all three sections. Overall, all the yellow roses refer to friendship between individuals but are associated with negative aspects of their lives. For Mrs. Dalloway, her bouquet of yellow roses could refer to Richard dying from sickness and her resentment for Walter being healthy. For Mrs. Woolf, they are used for the funeral of a dying bird and lead her and Vanessa hugging over it as she wonders what would be come of her during her time of death. And lastly in Mrs. Brown’s section, the yellow roses of her cake can refer to her friendship with Kitty and how they compare themselves to one another or to her need of perfection in practice and image. This novel takes the purity of the idea of yellow roses and pairs it up with negative aspects of humanity and life, such as illness, death and imperfections.
Whether the novelist plants the symbols throughout the book or only refers to it once, they know that the point of the item will be understood as the story is being read. They reveal and connect ideas in the book, that are spread across the characters or the time frame of the novel, allowing the reader to make connections of their own and take the messages from the novel they are reading.