r the workers are from the rich. The stage already sets the class conflict.
Mildred Douglas- The Rich/Upper Class: Scene Two and Scene Three show the real clash. Mildred Douglas is the daughter of a steel magnate. She wears a white dress. She wants to see poor workers. But when she sees Yank in the stokehole, she cries,
“Oh, the filthy beast!”
Then she faints. This insult breaks Yank’s pride. It shows the rich class hates the poor. Mildred’s aunt also speaks against mixing with the poor. The white dress of Mildred is the symbol of luxury. The black soot on Yank is the symbol of labor. This is the heart of the class conflict.
Fifth Avenue- Rich and Poor Face to Face: In Scene Five, Yank goes to Fifth Avenue, New York. He sees rich men and women coming out of church. They are clean, polished, and silent. Yank is dirty, loud, and angry. Long speaks of politics. But Yank only wants revenge. He shouts at them. He even punches a gentleman. The rich are shocked. Soon, the police arrest Yank. This scene shows open conflict: the poor cannot stand in the rich man’s street. The law protects the upper class, not the workers.
Rejection by Both Classes: Scene Six and Seven make the conflict deeper. In Blackwell’s Island prison, Yank feels like an animal in a cage. Other prisoners laugh at him. They tell him about the I.W.W. Yank goes there in Scene Seven. At first, they welcome him. But when he says he will bomb the Steel Trust, they throw him out. A policeman also rejects him.
“Yank—Say, where do I go from here?
Policeman— Go to hell.”
Here we see the tragedy of class conflict. The rich class rejects him. The workers’ organization also rejects him. Yank belongs nowhere.
The Gorilla and Final Defeat of the Worker: The last scene is in the Zoo. Yank looks at the gorilla. He feels it is his brother. He opens the cage. The gorilla kills him. He says,
“Christ, where do I get off at? Where do I fit in?”
This shows the worker has no place in a rich society. He is reduced to an animal. The conflict between the rich and the poor ends in death. The rich live. The poor die.
“The Hairy Ape” is a story of class conflict. The stokehole shows the life of workers. Mildred and her aunt show the rich class. Fifth Avenue and the prison show how the rich are protected. The I.W.W. rejects Yank, too. Finally, he dies in the Zoo. His tragic death proves how class division destroys human life.
Continue Reading
Subscribe to access the full content
Upgrade to Premium