e meet his tragedy?
Eugene O’Neill’s (1888-1953) “The Hairy Ape” (1922) is a modern tragedy. The hero is Yank. He works in the stokehole of a ship. His life begins with pride but ends in death. He meets Paddy, Long, Mildred, and the gorilla. He goes to Fifth Avenue, Blackwell’s Island prison, the I.W.W. office, and finally the Zoo. His journey shows the fall of a tragic man.
Pride and Strength in the Stokehole: At the start, Yank is full of pride. In the firemen’s forecastle, he shows his power. Other men fear him. Long speaks of politics. Paddy speaks of old sailing days. Yank, the main character, believes he is strong and powerful because of his work as a stoker. Yank proudly claims,
"I'm part of de engines!"
He feels he is the engine of the world. The ship moves with its arms. The men obey his voice. This false pride begins his tragic journey.
The Insult of Mildred Douglas: Scene Three brings Mildred Douglas to the stokehole. She is a rich girl. She wears white clothes. She is curious but weak. When she sees Yank, she calls him,
“Oh, the filthy beast!”
Then she faints. This one word destroys Yank’s pride. The man who felt like a god now feels like an ape. Paddy sings sad songs of freedom. Long warns about class. But Yank feels only pain. He thought he was the center of the world. Now he feels like an animal. This insult starts his tragic fall.
Anger in Fifth Avenue: In Scene Five, Yank goes to Fifth Avenue in New York. The place is clean and rich. People come from church. Long says they must fight in politics. But Yank only wants revenge. He shouts at the rich people. He pushes them. He even hits a gentleman. Soon, the police catch him. Here, his anger destroys him. He wanted to prove power. Instead, he shows weakness. The city laughs at him. Long escapes. Yank stands alone. His fall goes deeper.
Defeat in Prison and the I.W.W. Office: Scene Six shows Yank in Blackwell’s Island prison. He feels like an animal in a cage. He tells his story. Other prisoners laugh. One says about I.W.W. Yank tries to curve he bars. He fails. Guards beat him. He cries inside. He knows he cannot fight the system. Scene Seven shows him in the I.W.W. office. At first, they welcome him. But when he talks of bombing 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.”
This is a full rejection. Society does not take him. Neither rich, nor poor, nor law.
Death in the Gorilla’s Cage: Scene Eight is the tragic end. Yank goes to the Zoo. He meets the gorilla. He feels close to it. He opens the cage. The gorilla crushes him and throws him inside. Yank says,
“Christ, where do I get off at? Where do I fit in?”
Yank dies in the cage. This is pure tragedy. A man full of pride dies like an animal. Society rejects him. Even nature rejects him. His body is strong, but his soul is lost. His death is the final fall of a tragic hero.
Yank is truly a tragic character. He begins with power in the stokehole. He meets Mildred, Paddy, Long, the police, the I.W.W., and finally the gorilla. Every step takes him down. He loses pride, place, and identity. His last words show his tragic fate. O’Neill proves in “The Hairy Ape” that modern workers can die like tragic kings of old.
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