This paper is concerned on the main theme of the play “The Zoo story” by Edward Albee. In this play we can observe how people are seen as an animal and how this affects their way of living and also how their life is compared to a zoo. The entire play beginning with the title is a metaphor for “a caged animal”. The play was written in 1958 and in the beginning it was named Peter and Jerry. The title can be seen as a metaphor for Peter’s life. Since he met Jerry he was seen as a caged animal because he did not act by instinct and during their conversation tried to be a gentleman with Jerry. Peter’s life is a successful one because he has a family, two daughters, two cats, two parakeets, a wife and a good job “You have everything in the world you want; you've told me about your home, and your family, and your own little zoo. You have everything, and now you want this bench.” (The Zoo Story-page 18) This may be the main reason Jerry saw him as an animal from the zoo, caged and unable to be free. Because of this, we can understand that a caged animal is a man that has everything except the fact that he does not follow his dreams (Peter wanted a son and a dog but instead he has two daughters and two cats), a man who lives in ignorance of what happens outside his comfort zone. Peter’s condition as a caged animal changes in the end of the play when he …show more content…
Peter has opened his eyes, he has seen that the world has more to show and that the has lived he’s life like in a zoo and that all people tend to live like animals unaware of their true condition and of the intensity of their lives. Although it ends with a death, the play has an important message from all the readers: instead of living in our comfort zone, we should free ourselves from the control that people have on us, we should explore ourselves. We need to find our own identity in this big and modern
ZooBreak by Gordon Korman takes place in Cedarville, Long Island. There is this group of friends and there is this one girl named Savannah and she has a pet monkey named Cleopatra and she left her monkey unattended outside in her backyard and by the time she realized her monkey was in her backyard her monkey was already gone. My theme is positivity, mainly because in this story there is a problem and most of them stay positive and in the end it all works out.
Firstly let us consider conflict. In each act of the play, we see the overpowering desire to belong leading to a climax of conflict
This play is about the experiences of a dying school boy, it is a celebration of life and the power to heal through gaining insight.
Ruth’s character reminds us that the process of producing the play within the play is about finding a deeper, more real reality. For characters such as Ruth and Roy, the play is about creating an escape from their reality within the institution, such as characters like Zac whom “can’t stand real things”. For other characters such as Julie, the mental institution surrounds them, but performing the play allows them to break free from reality. Through producing the play, Lewis explores what is ‘real’ and what is ‘normal’, Nowra introduces the concept that the two concepts contrast with each other. Nowra concluded the play with Lewis’ narration. Turning off the lights sets the realisation of the brief tails of their lives given by Lewis, which are powered by reality and not a pristine ending, as life continues to happen.
Animals by Simon Rich is an outstanding short story which takes a unique perspective on the everyday life in a classroom. The story is written from the point of view of a hamster who spends his tortured life entrapped in a cage. From the first point in this story, it is clear that the purpose of the writing is not to understand the hamster, but rather to analyze the different actions of the people, and to discover that how they act towards the hamsters reflects on their character. It is curious to view the everyday interactions of people through a different set of eyes, that is done by humanizing the narrator’s perspective. Based on the actions of the many people and the treatment of the class pet, the author suggests that human nature is very much a product of the financial circumstances a person is subjected to.
The author asks question in the play, what happens when you die? Everyman looks back into his life and tries to find a time that he can give up but he is not ready to do so. Throughout the play, Everyman begins to realize the things he thought were important
The Zoo is ever child’s dream of seeing strange animals that they have never seen before, but this zoo is like no other. “It was kept with things he could hunt, and it really wasn’t like any animal sanctuary” (Goldman 60). The zoo of Death as the zoo is called is full of
To begin with, in this play the author unfolds family conflicts that involve its characters into a series of events that affected their lives and pushed them to unexpected ways.
At the end of the play the audience should walk away with the awareness that they can always be affected by the possibility of disaster. However, they can get through whatever comes their way. The viewers, in their everyday life, do not know when or where a catastrophe will strike, but they have to continue with their lives. Watching or reading this play notice the
In today’s world, we have come to see that trial, error, pain, and the striving for living a glamorous life are common; we all know it’s an exhausting task. Everybody seems to “go through the motions” at one point or another; we all seem to have this point in life where everything seems like a black hole that’s going nowhere. In the book, Of Mice and Men, and play Death of a Salesman, we see this is common, among many other similarities. However, no story is ever the same between two people’s lives, and this is also shown in these two works of literature.
Animal Farm is a novel written by George Orwell. The story takes place in a farm full of animals. Eventually, the animals rebel against the humans, which leads them the make their own government. As the book progresses Orwell uses many types of literary devices to communicate his opinions and thoughts specifically about the government in the society. In Animal Farm Orwell uses satire through the animal allegory, and irony, commenting on the the Russian Revolution, to show a connection between the individuals of a society and a totalitarian government and to create a cautionary tale that warns the readers about abuse of power.
In a crowded city such as Manhattan, it was no wonder that a man like Jerry felt lonely. He was without a friend, a mother and father, and the typical 'wife, two children, and a dog,'; that many others had. Jerry was thrown in a world that he felt did not want him, and his human flaw of wanting to escape loneliness led to his tragic death. In Edward Albee's play, The Zoo Story, all Jerry wanted was to be heard and understood, and in the end, after sharing his life story with a complete stranger, he got his final wish - death. The Zoo Story not only tells of the alienation of man in modern society, but also reflects the philosophy of twentieth century existentialism.
"Nowadays the plays' meaning is usually blurred by the fact that the actor plays to the audiences hearts. The figures portrayed are foisted on the audience and are falsified in the process. Contrary to present custom they ought to be presented quite coldly, classically and objectively. For they are not matter for empathy; they are there to be understood and politely added
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
Morality and value are the second themes that can find in Albee’s plays. According to Adams (1985: 1-2) in 1960s the United States suffered enough with African-American issues and the SSSR and Albee, and his followers wrote some plays in response to the existing situation and American values. In his famous work Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Albee critically examined institutions and values that Americans held dear – family, marriage, success and glory, for instance – and proposed they might have taken as shelter to escape from reality (Adams1985: 2). Through his plays, Albee struggles enough to prove his skillful as a dramatist; the play was also considered controversial, as it challenged traditional American values and used offensive language Both Adams (20) and