zoo story - existentialism

A detailed Summary of zoo story - existentialism

In a crowded city such as Manhattan, it was no wonder that a man like Jerry felt lonely. He was without a friend, a mother and father, and the typical "wife, two children, and a dog," that many others had. Jerry was thrown in a world that he felt did not want him, and his human flaw of wanting to escape loneliness led to his tragic death. In Edward Albee's play, The Zoo Story, all Jerry wanted was to be heard and understood, and in the end, after sharing his life story with a complete stranger, he got his final wish - death. The Zoo Story not only tells of the alienation of man in modern society, but also reflects the philosophy of twentieth century existentialism.

Jerry made a conscious choice of wanting to end his life, while Peter, a man that chose to act as the "guinea pig" and stayed and listened to Jerry's story, made a conscious choice of picking up same knife that killed Jerry. Although it was Peter who held the knife that killed Jerry, it was Jerry who took the responsibility to - despite great effort and pain - "wipe the knife handle clean of fingerprints" to allow no trace of the murderer. However, although Peter escaped without responsibili

The Zoo Story was also a classic example of the I-thou relationship. The I-thou relationship is only experienced in rare moments, and in the Zoo story, there were two. In one case, it was the incident with Jerry and the dog. Jerry and the dog shared a solitary moment in which the only thing that mattered in the world was the two. Neither the Jerry nor the dog established an effective form of communication with one another, but at one point, they learned to live with the other. Another I-thou relationship moment was between Jerry and Peter, and as a result of Jerry's death, Jerry would live immortally in Peter's mind because Jerry would be remembered.

ty, he had to deal with the guilt that it was him who held the weapon that ended the life of Jerry. Peter had to face the rest of his life being aware of how others lived, and how one can feel so indifferent to the world yet live in the very same part of the city.

Although both Jerry and Peter came from the same city, both encountered different experiences. Each had a different way of interpreting life's mishaps, and the way that they chose to handle certain situations led to the ultimate conclusion

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Approximate Word count = 785
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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