Rhinoceros: Humane Actions And Interactions

Rhinoceros Name Institution Affiliation Rhinoceros Humanity is a virtue that encompasses benevolent qualities of kindness, care, brotherly love, compassion, consideration, sympathy and gentleness. These virtues of humanity are depicted in the play Rhinoceros through the protagonist Berenger, an aimless and alienated village drunk. He finds solace and escape from the realities of life in alcohol with the author portraying him as an individual who drinks way too much and is too lazy to culture himself. Berenger perceives his life to be worthless and the only thing he desires for more is the love and the beauty of his co-worker Daisy. Despite his faults he manages to resist temptations to turn against humanity when all the people around him jumped ship and became rhinoceros and holds on tightly onto his human identity. He portrays the virtues of humanity in his interactions with the other characters in the play and is also integral in highlighting the major themes that include will power and love, logic and absurdity and fascism. The essay examines how Berenger helps the author to showcase and identify the theme of will and responsibility in his humane actions and interactions throughout the play. The author portrays Berenger as an individual with little will power from the onset of the play. He succumbs and crumbles easily under pressure and finds comfort in taking alcohol any time of the day. Jean, one of his close friends, exclaims at this fact when they meet up on a Sunday morning at the local tavern “You mean to say you have got a thirst even at this time in the morning”(Ionesco, 1959). He cares less about his appearance and is almost seen as someone who has lost all will to live. Jean tries to advise him to take more charge of his life when they meet up at the local tavern. Jean shares, “I am not blind you know. You’re dropping with fatigue. You have gone without your sleep again, you yawn all the time, and you are dead tired”(Ionesco, 1959). In the meeting with Jean, Berenger shares that he is bored with life and his work and the fact that he only gets three weeks holiday a year. The pressures of life have got the best of him and even the tone of his voice gives him away as a defeated man. Nonetheless, he persistently tries to have him exercise more will power and urges him to fulfill his duty like everybody else. Jean states “My dear man, everybody has to work. I spend eight hours a day in the office the same as everyone else. And I only get three weeks a year, but even so you don’t catch me” (Ionesco, 1959). The meeting between Berenger and Jean is very significant in highlighting the theme of will power and the benefits of not losing hope in life. More often, individuals feel hard done by the struggles life throws at them and lose all hope and will to go on and it`s at that point that friends like Jean come in handy to help pull one out of that slump. The author also showcases Berenger as an individual with de...