“The Hairy Ape” is a play by Eugene O’Neill written in 1922. It depicts a brutal and uneducated worker Yank who tries to find his place in the world but ultimately fails to do so. Initially, he shows no signs of displeasure with his life – he is a leader among other workers and always has the last word. However, when Mildred Dougas, the rich heiress, is frightened of him and calls him “a filthy beast”, he becomes depressed and decides to the world dominated by the rich. He attacks a rich gentleman and goes to prison, and afterwards goes to IWW, but is considered a spy there. Devastated by the inability to change something, Yank goes to the zoo and releases the gorilla, calling it his only friend and brother. As a result, the gorilla kills Yank.
In “The Hairy Ape”, O’Neill criticizes the contemporary society, showing that there is no place in the world for people like Yank. Industrialization has a negative impact on workers, reducing them to the primitive level of “hairy apes”. In turn, rich people like Mildred Douglas are also dissatisfied with their lifestyle, considering it passionless and pointless. Yank’s story shows that nothing can be changed until the social stratification exists – even if the workers realize their miserable situation.
O’Neill is obviously critical of socialism and Marxism. Though Marxism seems to support the poor people and oppose the capitalists, in reality it does not help those in need. It convinces the workers that they play the most important part of the economy – as Yank puts it, “we run de whole woiks. All de rich guys dat tink dey’re somep’n, dey ain’t nothing!” (O’Neill). They do not realize that they are used and underpaid, and this pride seems tragic because of their real situation. This idea is underlined in the language used by Yank – he cannot even speak properly, and when he tries to “think”, it becomes “tink” instead.
Works Cited
O’Neill, Eugene. “The Hairy Ape”. Googlebooks.com. Web 07 Dec …