Comparative Study of Characters of Attar's " Conference of Birds" with Characters of Becketts" Waiting for Godot"

In this research, a comparative analysis is presented between characters of Attar’s classic book “Conference of Birds” (Mantegh Alteir) and characters of Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot”. An analytical-descriptive method is employed with the aim of offering a descriptive analysis of the characters’ objectives and the way their behavior and attitudes develop through time. In Attar’s book, written in verse, a large number of different birds, lead by the Hoopoe, make a long journey across inhospitable terrain, enduring great hardship in order to reach the legendary Simorgh, a mythical bird known to have supernatural powers. In this long journey, the congregation of birds passes through seven symbolic stages. At each stage some of the birds either lose heart or change their minds until finally only thirty birds reach the final destination. In Beckett’s play, several individuals eagerly await the arrival of a hero named Godot who may deliver them from misfortune and strife. A boy delivers messages indicating the imminent arrival of the hero, but Godot never comes. The question is raised in the present study as to whether it would be possible to logically make a comparison between Attar’s text which is essentially mystical-moral in nature and Beckett’s “absurd” play. By offering a comparative analysis of various characters, the main challenge faced by the present study is to determine the existence and lack of meaning and spirituality in the lives of the characters of the two literary works and to consider how these two great writers view the world which is faced and challenged perpetually by mankind. In addition to this, after reviewing the works and in order to test research hypotheses, several key words in the two works are gathered and statistics are presented in the form of tables and graphs. Attar’s characters are active in all stages, but Beckett’s characters are passive. It seems that they passively depend on the deliverance by another person in order to gain freedom and happiness. Beckett’s characters are divergent and unsuccessful while Attar’s characters are successful and convergent. Ultimately, Samuel Beckett invites mankind to Unity by showing the emptiness and materialism which result from lack of truth-seeking and self-recognition. Attar, however, abhors dependency on materialism and emphasizes the goodness of truth and the significance of achieving and maintaining Unity.