Alienation and Solitude

A play in one scene of the zoo story by Edward Albee (1958) conveys a contrast between
two characters. One of the characters is antisocial and does minimum interaction with people.
The two characters in the play are Peter and Jerry. Peter behaves like an ordinary person while
Jerry makes other people uncomfortable by seeming to interfere with their personal space. Jerry
initiates a conversation with Peter, but later on, it is evident that Jerry lacks the essentials of
human interaction. The play, later on, shows incidents of mental instability. Alienation and
separation of a person from people have tremendous effects on the mental health of a person. In
the story, Edward Albee presents mentally unstable characters who in the end, isolate themselves
from society. Jerry lacks personal interaction with people, and it is evident how he gets mentally
disadvantaged (22).
Jerry differs from Peter because he has gone through tragic experiences in the past
(Madhia 705). Jerry has been struggling with poverty for a long time. The house incident
between his landlady and dog separates him from people such as Peter and society. Jerry's way
of life makes him anticipate spiritual fulfilment, and it makes him aware of his current situation
in life (705). Peter's life, on the other hand, brings him no realization of himself. He does not
discover his incompleteness. Jerry is a typical representation of the low-class members of the
New York society while Peter is a representation of the middle-class members. Jerry separates himself to live in a different setting. He is unstable, financially, and emotionally. Jerry lives in
his isolated homestead belonging to a landlady filled with lust. Jerry does not satisfy his
pleasures in reality but instead gives her a false love illusion. Through this incident, Albee
emphasizes the theme of truth versus deception (Wasserman 38).
On his first encounter with the pet dog, Jerry does not receive a warm welcome; instead,
the dog attacks and barks at him (30). Albee relates this to the human experience where Jerry
meets Peter, and his first experience is not a warm one (34). Jerry tries to insinuate a
conversation with Peter, but Peter does not respond with the same energy. Jerry poisons the dog
later. He tries to kill the dog meekly, but it did not work. He later kills the dog anyway (35).
Jerry tries to justify his actions by saying the dog does not mutually love him back (32). Jerry
uses the language tool to persuade Peter to stay back every time he wanted to leave. He narrates
the zoo story and his experience in the story. Every time he does this, he persuades Peter to tarry
awhile with him (2). Jerry's conversations aim to get Peter's attention (17).
Albee portrays that any person may undergo loneliness regardless of where they come
from (Wasserman32). Peter, as well as Jerry, suffer loneliness. Jerry experiences several losses
in his life. His biological parents are detached from him. His mother leaves him, and the father is
a drunkard (Pearlman 2). His aunt also departed while he was graduating from high school. Jerry
does not have personal relationships with women (2). He only uses them to fulfil his sexual
desires. Jerry only sustained a single sexual relationship with a homosexual partner (Madhia
708). He meets Peter and hopes to get a true friend in him. The material things that he surrounds
himself with do not bring satisfaction but instead, leave him feeling empty. Amidst the thought
of death, Jerry does not give up on Peter. He still hopes to find a support system in Peter. In his

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Play, Albee presents a moral decay in which Peter fails to embrace Jerry and help him out of his
solitude (4).
Jerry has a longing for spiritual fulfilment. He later understands that Peter is also human
and subject to loneliness just like himself. He also experiences the uncertainties of life that any
modern man can go through. Through his meeting with Peter, he receives insight into public life
that he did not possess at the beginning of the play. Jerry's fight for a bench is a strategy that
serves to release him from the anxiety of attaining a spiritual fulfilment. To emphasize Peter's
character, Albee adds Peter's wife and children to the story. His wife wants to engage him in a
conversation just like any perfect couple (Albee 2). It is evidence of the insecurities that they
share as a couple. Peter then heads to the central park, where he meets Jerry for their second act
(Pearlman 3).
Albee sets in Martha and Joy as a typical representation of how American couples feel
incompleteness (Goldman 8). The Promotion of George at work does not yield happiness for this
couple. The sterility problem fails such a pair. This is the cause of Nick and Honey's failed
marriage too. Nick tricks Honey to marry her because of her hysteric pregnancy, and the result is
a failed marriage. This is evidence for the degenerated American society. These two couples
show how disrespect is rampant in American couples. Martha dishonours George for his
impotence. Rudeness affects George's personality and profession. Martha alienates George by
stating, "His presence makes her puke" (Albee 18). Martha utilizes this opportunity to flirt with
Nick. It is a great disappointment for George. This scene ends with a reality where Martha and
George mutually decide to face their incompleteness as a couple. They decide to get rid of their
insecurities and face life together.

The play continues showing Peter and Jerry sitting on a bench at the park. Jerry ends
harming himself with the knife. Peter leaves the scene while jerry is bleeding. These two scenes
in the play are the representation of a typical man who has a desire to gain more in life, but the
result is losing on what they already possess. Albee depicts that modern man is after perfection.
This strife makes them lose their identity on who they are in family and society. The play depicts
Peter as a polite and kind character, but he does not critically think of what is happening around
him. He believes in being a diplomat rather than having strong opinions. Jerry, on the other hand,
explores the happenings around him and develops views about life, which he is willing to share
with Peter. These men, however, possess a similar trait of dissatisfaction from their communities.
They feel separated and misunderstood by society. Eventually, they choose to define themselves
with these differences.
Despite their complexions, Peter and Jerry represent specific values of American society.
Peter has a family, and he is financially stable. This is what every typical man will crave to
possess. He represents a capitalist mentality. "This is where one finds fulfilment from finances
and the mere fact of having a family" (Malcolm 76). On the contrary, Jerry shows iconoclasm.
He disagrees with the societal expectations of a typical American man. He has no wife or
children. He practices homosexuality, which does not bring him fulfilment in the end. These two
individuals work to represent the two sides of American society. Jerry's condition drives him to a
scenario where he feels abandoned by the community. He is desperate for finding someone to
give him company. Scholars have argued that his alienation is because of his homosexual nature.
Others have argued that it is due to the setting in the urban community that makes it difficult for
people to interact (11).

Jerry’s story of the Zoo is a plot where he tries to achieve his objective but fails because
he brings up a different story every time he tries to narrate the Zoo story. His inability to tell the
zoo story eventually results in his death. He dies without fulfilling his mission to feel complete.
He does not accomplish his desire to feel human intimacy. The dialogue between Jerry and Peter
does not end where it is expected. The miscommunication denies Jerry fulfilment in life. Albee's
audience foresees the hopelessness in Jerry's situation. Jerry takes his own life for the sake of
Peter to prevent him from experiencing a spiritual hunger like himself ((Pearlman 3).
Misinterpretation of society ownership results in increasing discrimination and social discontent.
In such a divided society, an individual places even their health at stake.

 

Works Cited

Albee, Edward. The Zoo Story: A Play in One Scene, 1958, for William Flanagan. Penguin
Group, 1960.
Albee, Edward F. "An interview with Edward Albee by Jeffrey Goldman." 19 Sept. 1989.
Madhia, Payal. Theme of alienation and isolation in Edward Albee's play the Zoo story and
Virginia Woolf, 2019, pp. 704-717.
Pearlman, Mickey. "What is new at the Zoo? Rereading Edward Albee's dreams and nightmares,
in Feminist rereadings of modern American drama, 1989, pp. 183-192.
Wasserman, Julian N. ' The Pitfalls of Drama': The Idea of Language in the Plays of Edward
Albee," in Edward Albee: An Interview and Essays, pp. 29-53. Accessed 13 Dec. 2018.