The Zoo Story by Edward Albee
In Edward Albee's play, The Zoo Story, Jerry tells Peter bizarre stories about people he has encountered that influence his shallow and lonely existence, to demonstrate Albee's view that society is unnecessarily consumed by indifference, unkindness, weakness, and emptiness. In an attempt to cause Peter to realize that his own life is filled with emptiness and shallowness, Jerry tells Peter about the lives of some of the people in his boarding house. He talks about the colored queen, the Puerto Rican family, the landlady, and the woman who cries all the time, in hopes of causing Peter to compare the meaninglessness of his life to their lives. In doing this, Jerry hopes Peter will realize that his life can have substance if he so chooses. Jerry is motivated to use his knowledge of the world around him to help Peter because he feels that it is important for him to use his observations to change the life of someone else for the better. He anticipates the vibrant attitude change that will consume Peter when he mentions early into their conversation that he will read about "it" in the papers tomorrow (Albee 15). Jerry is confident that he has what it takes to show Peter the light, and thus begins to tell him "The Zoo Story."
Some of Albee's negative views of society can be seen when Jerry describes the colored queen that lives in his apartment building. The colored queen is overly concerned with his outward appearance. Through Jerry's description of the queen, it becomes obvious that he is quite self-centered and narcissistic. According to Jerry, he usually has his door wide open, as if he is pleading for others to watch him. This is like many people in society who need constant attention in...
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...happy that he does not wallow in his self-pity.
By the finish of the play, it becomes apparent that Jerry is fulfilled enough with his existence, and can die a happy human being. He provokes Peter to the point where he will defend himself for control of the bench. Jerry succeeds in getting Peter to help him kill himself. Jerry impales himself on the knife from Peter's outstretched arm. Jerry kills himself because he is finally content with his existence. He realizes that he has the ability to cause changes in the lives of others, and he realizes that he has a perception of the world around him more acute than most people do. He realizes that by telling Peter about the sad, lonely, empty people from his boarding house, Jerry has caused Peter to have a heightened perception of reality, and therefore can die a happy man because he has fulfilled his life's work.
Brother Leon was tied into the whole fight with the school bully and set it all up, which could have led to Jerry’s physical death. Also he was a hypocrite to all of his students. Throughout the novel he always told his classes that they needed to be themselves and make their own choices in life, but once they did he was out to ruin their lives. Jerry would not do the school fundraiser of selling chocolates, even Brother Leon said that he did not have to, but once Jerry kept denying taking chocolates to sell Brother Leon teamed up with the Vigils and tried to ruin Jerry. Going along with Brother Leon being a hypocrite, Nancy Veglahn brings up the topic of Brother Leon acting the opposite way of what how thinks in her article, The Bland Face of Evil in the Novels of Robert Cormier. “Like Brother Leon, they may wear symbols of mercy without being merciful; they may hide their real intentions behind a pretence of charity and concern.” Brother Leon always said one thing and meant another causing the students to think the opposite way of what he
Jerry is a very individual kind of person, likes to be alone, find out things by himself, and
Fourteen-year-old Jerry Renault is like your typical skinny or thin teenager in his freshman year at Trinity, a boys' Catholic high school. He tends to dwell on depressive emotion, sexual frustration due to hormones, and loneliness from his mother as well as asking his own existent in the world. He is has no mother and had recently died in a few months. He often remembers and recalling times of his parents lived together in a house with a large backyard and front lawn which his father never got tired of mowing it. He's trying to make quarterback and to do well in school despite that fact weighing him down. As well as being best to be a good son to his widowed father but Jerry is beginning to freak out of his father’s boring life style. He worries about ending up like his dad and being stuck in the same routine as his father. Realizing this factor, Jerry decides to make a change in his life out of impulse saying "No" to chocolates but, he's really saying "no" to the entire “universe” that The Vigils and Brother Leon created at Trinity. The random guy out from the streets accuses Jerry of being a "Square boy. Middle aged at fourteen… “. Disregarding the guy’s aimless lifestyle, he begins questioning all the routines in his life. It’s not like he doesn't love and appreciate his father but Jerry becomes more worried that he'll grow up and be trapped in the kind of boring life as his dad. He comes to the realization that his father is stuck living a dull, almost unhappy life as he looks in the mirror and "sees his father's face reflected in his own features." We can see also in the story, Jerry tends to waver in the border lines of excitement and boredom by isolating himself and not being isolated. In the beginning of t...
There are a couple of different [things] that spark Jerry into becoming true to himself. The death of his mother is one reason Jerry desire's to be more of an individual. He feels confused and that he is supposed to do something because of his mother's death. There is also the hippie man by the bus who criticizes Jerry for going to school everyday and taking orders from everyone, he tells Jerry to be himself and not to be such a follower anymore.
Orwell deals with the problem of rhetoric in ’Animal Farm’ by demonstrating how language can cause corruption. There are many characters in his book ‘Animal Farm’ that use rhetoric to convince and manipulate, however, the most talented persuasive speaker is Squealer. Squealer’s ability to use rhetoric is unrivalled, this is the reason Napoleon rises to power. Squealer uses the power in language to distort the truth in his speeches. When Napoleon wanted a problem fixed he would simply ask Squealer to talk to the animals and the animals would believe and be on board with whatever he said. Squealer uses many persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions, inclusive language and exaggeration, but most of all he uses rhetoric. Rhetoric, throughout the book is seen as a bigger enemy than Napoleon or Mr. Jones could have ever been. It shows that there is no good that can come of lying, confusing or distorting true meaning. Orwell does a thorough job at demonstrating how much of a problem rhetoric really is.
hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say". Old Major was a
Wallace-Wells' article "The Case for the End of the Modern Zoo", addresses whether there is a valid reason for zoos to exist.The author begins by explicitly stating that he is a huge fan of zoos, and visits them frequently with his young daughter. He states that the zoo he visits takes extra precautions to protect the well being of the animals, such as reducing visitation hours and attempting to replicate natural habitats. In addition, the author calls to attention recent studies that suggest animals suffer in captivity (through malnutrition, infanticide, and frequent deaths).Wallace-Welles also emphasizes a recent "anti-zoo sentiment" stemming from pop culture such as "Madagascar", "Planet of the Apes", and "Blackfish". This "anti-zoo sentiment"
Few supervisors experience lack of respect and denunciation from workers because of their positions in a company. Supervisors take actions to preserve the image of authority before subordinates and from being ridiculed by their workers, even if the supervisors object these types of actions. The essay "Shooting an Elephant" relates to this situation. The author of this essay is George Orwell. The author talks about his work and personal experience that emphasizes the impact of imperialism at the sociological and psychological stage. This paper shall discuss the Orwell's essay, how the artistic choices shape the facts in the essay, how the relationship between facts and artistry contributed to the essay, technique used, and how the tension between the facts and artistic intention in his thesis relates to the workplace.
Hypocrisy on Animal Farm In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, the animals possess many traits that humans portray such as emotional and physical qualities and activities. The novel withholds many examples of hypocrisy among the animals. These acts of hypocrisy originate from the animals hatred for the humans, which eventually transforms them into humans in an animal form and the major downfall of Animal Farm. These acts of hypocrisy are primarily summoned by the pigs in many different fashions including the higher equality, the ban on human characteristics and activity and the basis of “four legs good, two legs bad”. The higher equality of certain animals was a major contribution to the general act of hypocrisy that takes place on Animal Farm.
Animal Farm was written by George Orwell and published in 1946. This story is about the Manor Farm in England, around the time of the Russian revolution. The animals on this farm started their own revolution because they were so irritated with the way they were being treated.
There are many factors that cause Jerry to act the way he does. The main reason is he forced by the vigils to refuse the chocolates. "When he returned to the school after practice, he found a letter scotch-taped to the door of his locker. A summons from the vigils. Subject: Assignment."(Cormier 62) He is now forced to refuse the school chocolate sale. He now has to face Brother Leon and tell him no which soon gives him insight in to the teachers’ feelings. "His eyes gave him away. His face was always under control but his eyes showed his vulnerability."(Cormier 92) Jerry realizes that Brother Leon is struggling with the candy sale and that he is trying to hide his anger for Jerry’s’ refusal. Jerry knows Brother Leon’s hate for him and his fear of failure with the chocolate sale. "He had met Brother Leon in the corridor late one afternoon after football practice and had seen hate flashing in the teachers eyes. More than hate: something sick." (Cormier 92) Jerry knows that Leon hates him for refusing the chocolates but he doesn’t want to give into Leon and take the chocolates. This is what motivates Jerry to become a rebel
The original dream of Animalism was not to just have animals successfully run a farm, but to live by certain rules. Rules such as, all animals are equal, no animal shall kill another, and no animals shall drink, wear clothes, sleep in a bed, or do anything else that has to do with humans. This dream was a failure, because Napoleon disobeyed all of these rules throughout the story of Animal Farm. The dream of Animalism failed because of Napoleon’s selfish nature, and inability to abide by rules that he found inconvenient.
In the movie, The Voices, Jerry (the main character) seems like a friendly and happy guy. He functions normally until we see a scene where he is having a conversation with his pets. He lives with
In the last couple of paragraphs of Animal Farm by George Orwell, many things happened. The chapter mostly provided an ending for what happened at the Animal Farm years later. In the ending it talked about, how the pigs had suddenly changed their thought system and started walking on two legs like humans. The pigs also get the sheep to say, “Four legs good, two legs better. During the last couple of paragraphs, the pigs and humans were together. They were playing a game of cards, and they were also very drunk. In that section, the animals were watching from far away to see what was going on. The animals notice that something was changing. Something felt very strange to the animals. As they went closer for the second time, the animals witness
In The Zoo Story, a one-act play written by Edward Albee, Albee describes an intense conversation that takes place between two different types of men spending time at Central Park. During a Sunday afternoon Peter, “a man in his early forties” (30), reads quietly while sitting on a park bench. Later, a man named Jerry interrupts Peter with random conversation. Jerry begins to ask Peter a series of personal questions that reveal certain characteristics and details about both characters. Analyzing their questions and responses reveals many qualities allows Jerry and Peter to be placed on psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid. However, they are placed into completely different levels. This shows that Peter and Jerry have many