![]() The Zoo Story Summary. The Zoo Story is short, and not much happens. It is not super- plotty; in fact, it is the opposite of super- plotty. ![]() We don't want to burst your bubble, but it's not going to be turned into a blockbuster film with explosions and alien invasions or anything like that. Jerry comes up and says he's been to the zoo. Peter doesn't want to talk, but he gets sucked in anyway, and the two chat a bit. Peter has a wife and two daughters and a high- paying job in publishing, but is vaguely dissatisfied with his life. Jerry lives in a crappy apartment and his parents are dead; he is scornful and unhappy. Jerry did something at the zoo before he found Peter, and he keeps saying he'll tell Peter what happened, but he never does. Instead, he tells a long story about his disgusting landlady and her evil- tempered dog. The dog would attack Jerry, even though he tried to make friends with it. So he poisoned it by putting rat poison in its meat. ![]() Now he and the dog ignore each other. He sees this as a deep, existential, sad truth. Peter is baffled, which seems fair enough. Jerry is disappointed that Peter is baffled. He tickles Peter, who is very ticklish. Peter laughs uproariously. Then Jerry says he's going to talk about the zoo again. Instead, he pushes Peter and tells him to get off the bench. Peter gets mad and demands to fight Jerry. Jerry pulls out a knife, and then the two race off to save the world from an alien invasion led by a Norse god. No, actually, that's not what happens. That would be absurd, even for theater of the absurd. Oh right, Jerry pulls a knife, and actually gives it to Peter. The Zoo Story has 1,026 ratings and 39 reviews: Published October 31st 1960 by Penguin Books, 42 pages, Paperback. NPR coverage of Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French. News, author interviews, critics' picks and more. Peter is very angry at being driven away from his bench, and brandishes the knife. Jerry throws himself on it, and wounds himself mortally. As he's dying he talks about how grateful he is to Peter, for reasons that have something to do with the zoo, but are overall pretty garbled. ![]() The Zoo Story, originally titled Peter and Jerry, is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just. Welcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants, both animal and human. Also known as Pet Zoo.
Though you can't really blame Jerry for being incoherent, since he's slowly dying and all. Peter runs away screaming in horror (again, reasonable reaction) and Jerry dies. That's it. Welcome to Edward Albee. Unsatisfying and confusing are his middle names. He tries to keep that under wraps, though.)People who Shmooped this also Shmooped.. The Zoo Story by Edward Albee ! It depicts a world which doesn. Human beings always want to find a meaning for their lives. They all want to know what happened at the zoo, but they soon will understand the absurdity of their lives and will get disappointed. This is the theatre of the absurd! The Title As Jerry tells Peter in the story: You. It is the animal part of human beings. Jerry fights with the dog just like he fights with other people. He communicates with the dog as well as he tries to communicate with Peter. This kind of intimacy does not necessarily need to be accumulated over time. Albee believes that it can be achieved simply by approaching a stranger like Peter and getting know somebody. Albee himself is a gay, and critics consider Jerry's loneliness . There are also erotic undertones to Peter and Jerry's interaction, even when sex is not being discussed explicitly. For example, many critics have pointed out the phallic resonance of Jerry's death, which occurs through a knife- wound in the abdomen. This phallic symbol at the end, refers to Freud ideas and by considering his ideas you can say The knife that Peter wields and Jerry falls upon can be seen as a symbol of a p- e- n- i- s. The use of the knife isn't just about potency, though. Jerry tells Peter he's a homosexual. And tickling Peter, can be seen as a kind of courtship or love affair. In some ways, the last scene makes more sense as sex than as murder. Jerry is, after all, happy after he's stabbed, and feels that he's connected with Peter in a new and wonderful way. But he might well be horrified after sex too, since he's married and thinks of himself as heterosexual. Symbolism: Knife : phallic symbol. Bench: There is only one thing on the stage, and that's the bench. Peter who has a good job and a lovable family, enjoys his life happily. It's secluded here; there's never anyone sitting here, so I have it all to myself. Are these the things men fight for? If they can take your bench, what will they take next? Your home, your spouse, your job? Dog: The dog attacks Jerry, Jerry tries to poison him. It symbolizes some sort of existential about the horror of humanity and the cruelty of life. Zoo: The zoo symbolizes the fact that the zoo is not the zoo. That's how the Theater of the Absurd rolls. The day is nice, the sun is warm,all is well with the world. The setting is meant to be all nice and quiet and comfortable to contrast with the dirty, messy unpleasantness and absurdity of existence. Climax (Turning Point)The big, climactic, exciting moment of no return occurs late in the play, when Jerry tries to put Peter off the bench. Worse leads to worse, and Jerry ends up killing himself. That's really the only point where you could say anything actually happens, action- wise. It is sudden and final, though. Ending: At the end of the story, Peter screams ''Oh my God''. And then Jerry imitates him. You see that as Jerry mocking Peter and making fun of his meaningless references to a religion he probably doesn't really believe. The story is not a religious sort of play. The zoo is a place against the idea of holly God who is said to be faultless. And he died at last after his absurd life. The zoo story analysis via Shmoop. Theatre of the absurd by Martin Esslin. The zoo story by Edward Albee via gradesaver.
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