Themes in The Hairy Ape

Themes in The Hairy Ape 

• By Eugene O'Neill 

# Class conflict :

The Hairy Ape is the lowest of the low on the ladder of success. Not Darwinian evolutionary success but good old - fashioned capitalist success. What happens when a mere worker comes into conflict with the ownership class? A story as old as time : the Dame upstairs even if she does have nice liberal intentions goes on about her business without paying much of a price, but the worker below responsible for the enjoyment above gets the very life beat out of him.by a hairy ape,no less! The classes come into conflict in most O'Neill plays, but not nearly to the clear point that they conflict as in this one.         

# Liberalism :

There are many liberals who want to engage the working class and get them what they want.perhaps even most. Then there are those like the mildred who are really not even deserving of being called a liberal. She is a capitalist pig in sheep's  clothing; an upper class wolf feeding on the entrails of people like the yank to satisfy her own guilt at naver really being able to connect with anyone who lives beneath the penthouse.

# Darwinian Capitalism :

The Hairy ape is very suggestive of the idea that in a capitalist society people are bound to be placed according to their natural gifts. Those blessed with muscles are doomed or destined to operate the machinery that provides the wealth to those born with the brains to exploit it. O'neill is by no means suggestion there is a correlation between physical strength and stupidity;rather he is suggesting that the smartest people can figure out ways to convince those with less intelligence to do things not entirely in their own

 Best interest. And at the point of the industrial revolution in which the play is set, those things involved proving their mastery of machinery. Most of which served the interests of those blessed with a natural gift of strength, dexterity or focus on rote compliance with the rhythm of the machine.

# Worker alienation :

Yank is fully happy with his lot in life down in the stokehold.until he undergoes a sort of raised consciousness that makes him more aware that he is down there not necessarily for all the right reasons. He was not born to work in hellish depths in which he once found happiness, but there are those who think he was. This raised consciousness exposes him to the ugly truth that he is judged not on who he is, but only on what he can do. This not only alienates him from his enjoyment of his work since he now realises that he is a victim of exploitation and that he is not down there in the stokehold because he can do it, but because others think he can do nothing else.

# Racial degeneration :

Many critics often argued over O' Neill's conception of race in The Hairy Ape. Yank, who often worked with coal, is said to have "blackface" through the play. This interpretation of "blackface" has led to a debate about Tank's race. The coal combined with an unshaven face has covered the whiteness of his face, discarding his nationality. These characteristics combined contribute to his physical and psychological downfall throughout the play His emotional detriment reflects his physical deterioration as well, where finally at the end of the play he has taken on animalistic qualities. In the last scene, Yank tries to explain to the ape that they are the same; his efforts to show their similar qualities end in Tank's death. Tank's defeat by the ape is degenerating to his mental state as well as his race and social class.

# Sense of Belongings :

One common analysis of the play reads it as an Existentialist piece in reference to the protagonist himself experiencing an existential crisis. Yank believed himself to be the sole provider for the ocean liner; he was content because he believed his work was worth something. When he is called a " filthy beast" by Mildred in scene three, he begins to rebel against the upper class that he believes relies solely on him. After the insult, it became evident to Yank just what little worth he was to them, thus inciting his rebellion against them. However, he soon finds that most of the people he rebels against do not give him a second thought. His entire existence is so minuscule to them, as seen on fifth Avenue is scene five, that his act of rebellion goes unnoticed. Yank finds that it is impossible to rebel against the entirety of the upper class because there are no actual tangible things for him to rebel against. His struggle fails before it even begins. This aspect of the story qualified Yank as the existential or absurd hero of the play in that he ends up devoting his entire existence to a meaningless rebellion that accomplishes nothing at all.  He gives the ultimate sacrifice, his life, to nothing. However, by the end of the play, when it becomes evident that his struggle collapsed, yank experiences remorseful acceptance. He is able to make light of the situation and finally accepts his position in the world, his liberation derives from the futility of his existence. The liberation is seen in the final scene with the gorilla. Yank goes and meets his symbolic equal in that to the upper class, they are nothing but beasts to exploit. Yank comes to terms with his position in the world again and dies knowing that he belongs somewhere.

# Human Regression by Capitalist :

The resounding theme of the Hairy Ape is the effect of industrialization and technological progress on the worker. Industrialization has reduced the human worker into a machine. The men are programmed to do one task, are turned on and off by whistles and are not required to think independently. Today, the job of the coal Stoker is actually done by a machine. Workers are thus forced into jobs that require nothing but grunt work and physical labor, which has, in turn caused a general deterioration of the worker into a Neanderthal that the Firemen actually look like Neanderthal and one of the oldest workers, paddy, as "extremely monkey- like". The longer the Firemen work, the further back they fall on the human evolutionary path thus paddy, one of oldest is especially  "monkey- like. As a whole, the play is a close investigation of his regressive pattern through the character Yank the play marks his regression from a Neanderthal on the ship to an actual ape at the zoo.

Thank you……!