and Identity Crisis Modern tragedy shows inner struggle Yank is full of pride in the stokehole But Mildred Douglas a rich girl comes in a white dress She sees him and cries Oh the filthy beast Then she faints This insult destroys Yank s mind Paddy sings of old sailing days Long speaks of class But Yank hears only one word beast He feels he is not human He begins to think of himself as an ape His identity breaks This is a modern psychological tragedy Social Reality and Class Conflict Modern tragedy also shows society In Scene Five Yank goes to Fifth Avenue in New York The place is clean and rich Churchgoers walk in fine clothes Yank feels angry He wants revenge Long says politics is the way But Yank wants only to fight He shouts at rich people He even hits a gentleman Soon the police come He is arrested Here class conflict becomes clear The rich ignore him The poor cannot save him Yank is lost between classes His tragedy grows from social injustice Rejection and Isolation Everywhere Yank is rejected again and again In Scene Six he is in Blackwell s Island prison He feels like an animal in a cage He tries to bend the iron bars Guards beat him In Scene Seven he goes to the I W W office At first they welcome him But when he speaks of blowing up the Steel Trust they suspect him They push him out A policeman ignores him Yank Say where do I go from here Policeman Go to hell Yank feels fully rejected Rich society poor workers law and politics all throw him away He is completely isolated This is the heart of modern tragedy Tragic End Without Glory Classical tragic heroes die with dignity But Yank dies like an animal In Scene Eight he goes to the Zoo He sees the gorilla He feels they are the same He opens the cage The gorilla crushes him and throws him inside He dies crying Christ where do I get off at Where do I fit in His death has no glory It is only pain He dies as a man without a place without an identity This is the modern tragic end The Hairy Ape is a true modern tragedy The hero is a common man His tragedy comes from insult rejection and class conflict He meets Paddy Long Mildred the police the I W W and the gorilla But nobody accepts him His pride is broken His death is meaningless Eugene O Neill shows that in the modern world even a strong worker can die like a tragic king of the past