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