SYMBOLISM AND ALIENATION OF THE PROLETARIAT IN EUGENE O’NEIL’S PLAY “THE HAIRY APE”
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill is foremost American dramatis. One of his famous dramas is The Hairy Ape. The story is very interesting to me. It is about a proletariat in a ship as a fireman in the stokehole, named Yank. He and his friends feel it is like their home, they do anything there. They are very isolated and do not know the condition in the outside. Cause of that, “thinking” is to be the weird and unimportant thing, so they sing “drink, don’t think!” for many times. There, who the stronger physically are the one in respected by others.
One day a girl with all white dressed come down into the stokehole, Mildred, and see all firemen. She is very fear at that time, and then goes out from there. But before that, she said that “take me away! Oh, the filthy beast!”. And said that they are likes the hairy ape in the zoo which very dirty and black skin caused of the steel dust. Yank hurt by those words, and wants revenge it. But in the end, he died before unrequited revenge. Cause of that, I think it is include in tragedy-realism genre. I also called it as the realism because this condition is really happen in our life, even at the time this work written.
And in this paper, my analysis will be focused of symbolism used in this play, The Hairy Ape. I found many symbols there, they are:
1. Hairy ape: it is a symbol of proletariat people. Ape is an animal which stupid and has no thinking; “thinking” is weird thing for proletariat. They just believe that the good man is who has big muscles, and can do many things, and thinking is unimportant to do. Caused of that Yank get the respect as the strongest man there.
2. Gorilla : a symbol of aristocrat people. An animal which just stay, not active but can kill another animal.
3. Ship : a symbol of world proletariat (stokehole is their home which such a hell, and the deck is placed for aristocrat). Yank discharge from ships is a symbol that he gets an understanding of the difference classes who have set it aside from free life. So he has the awareness to fight for himself from the constraints of the existing classes.
4. Whiskey: whiskey is a drink which can make people to be complacent. So it is a symbol of the unconsciousness of aristocrat’s oppression to proletariat. Proletariat said that they are better than aristocrat because of their strength. Thinking is just broke their heads.
5. Mildred’s white dress: symbol of Mildred’s life in cleaning and comfortable. Whereas, the black skin caused of steel dust showed us the proletariat’s way of life which very hard.
6. Black dust: symbol of aristocrat’s ridicule to proletariat. Mildred is Aristocrat; she said that feathers black smoke drift into the blue sky is beautiful. But in fact, it is the sadness for firemen in the stokehole.
7. Mildred seems ghost: symbol of Yank’s love but he never get her, and Mildred always drifting her in his mind. Her shadow is to be absurd thing for him.
8. Furs: furs which taken from the fur, and Yank dubbed as hairy ape, so it means that people like Yank (proletariat) is traded which only be taken advantages.
9. Yank death: Yank died caused of torn to pieces by gorilla. It is as the symbol of the proletariat’s struggle which is very hard and impossible to make it happen even until they died. Aristocrat will always prevent it.
10. Bars: The symbol of isolation. Yank created it by himself because he worked for Mildred's father at a steel company. He never thought that the steel that he has made eventually became its own cage. It is really ironical thing.
As the conclusion, The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neil’s play is full of symbols, if we know what kinds of the symbol, it is can help us to more understand about the story and the purpose of the author wrote a work. In fact, the reality is too cruel. And Yank was died before achieve his dreaming to struggle his life, but aristocrat will always exist. Even, not only in his life he is alienated but also in his death too. It is a tragedy.
References:
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/eugene-oneill/Hairy-Ape.pdf
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