American Literature

Albee describes his work as an examination of the American Scene, an attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in our society, a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, and emasculation and vacuity, a stand against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is peach-keenwww.imagination.commoonstruckclsc44.html, How is this reflected in The Zoo Story Cite quotes from scenes and pages to support your answer.

It is true that Edwards Albee uses his 1958 The Zoo Story play to explore and critique the prevailing values in American society. For example, to describe the social scene in America during this period, the playwright uses two very different characters called Jerry and Peter. In this regard, Peter is depicted as leading a comfortable life that is detached and indifferent to the troubled lives of people like Jerry. Peters comfortable lifestyle is depicted by his statement that he read about prosthesis in an issue of Time Magazine. When Jerry inquires about the source of Peters information, Peter replies by saying I read about it somewhere Time Magazine, I think (McMichael and Crews 2057). In response, Jerry remarks that Time Magazine isnt for blockheads (McMichael and Crews 2057). This conversation shows that Jerry and Peter have varied socioeconomic statuses.  In effect, Jerry has been made to lead an inhuman life by his little means while Peter leads a rather comfortable life. Albee thus attacks this biased social arrangement by using Jerry to intrude into the comfortable existence of Peter. Moreover, Jerry forces Peter to listen to almost insignificant and irrelevant issues. The playwright thus seeks to quash the view that disadvantaged society members have no opinions worth listening to. The complacent and cruel stance that society has adopted to make people like Jerry insignificant and worthless is thus criticized.

In addition, Jerry vividly describes the inner condition of his residence in vivid detail to highlight the fact that all is not well in the American social arrangement. For instance, Jerry says that one of his walls is made of beaverboard adding that this beaverboard separates my room from another laughably small room (McMichael and Crews 2060). This is a miserable type of life which starkly contrasts with Peters. Conversely, Peter observes that his 2 daughters have their own bedroom, suggesting a comfortable life. The playwright thus shows that although Peter and his equals lead good lives, other people, like Jerry lead, poverty-ridden lives. The American socioeconomic landscape is thus not pleasant.        

 The Zoo Story is often considered absurdist literature. How do you see it fitting within this tradition (Refer to lecture an explanation of this movement). Explain your position in one or two paragraphs and cite quotes from the play, providing scene and pages numbers to support your position.

Absurdist literature focuses on studying human behaviors in very unusual circumstances.  Moreover, it has little elements of judgment regarding characters and their actions, leaving the reader to make independent evaluations of characters. Absurdist literature, whose characters are generally ambiguous, does not also have an explicit moral lesson behind it. All these elements are evident in Albees The Zoo Story play. For example, the circumstances under which Jerrys behavior is analyzed are very unique. Jerry just happens to encounter Peter in a Public Park after which Jerry begins a conversation that reveals Jerrys character and background. Peter is reading a book when Jerry interrupts by asking Do you mind if I ask you questions. These 2 persons do not even know each others names, making the situation a truly unique one. Moreover, Albee relates the story in an unbiased manner without glorifying or demonizing either Jerry or Peter. Readers are thus left to their own devices to independently assess the two characters. In addition, both Peter and Jerry are rather ambiguous because, except for their personal descriptions of their respective lives, no other information about them is available. For instance, Peter describe himself by saying that he has an executive position with a ... a smallpublishing house. The identity of Peters employer is thus not revealed. Conversely, Jerry is also sketchy in describing himself. For example, he states that he lives between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West. This is also a sketchy explanation that makes Jerry an ambiguous character. In effect, Albee presents his characters as ambiguous, thus making the play an absurdist literature. Conversely, the moral in The Zoo Story is unclear, leaving readers to grapple with the possible interpretations of the literary work. This aspect designates the play as an absurdist piece of literature.