Wednesday, February 8, 2012

All cats die. Socrates is dead. Therefore Socrates is a cat.

The main character of Rhinoceros is BERENGER. Even though he is good-humored and bright, he is also a desperate drunkard who can't get used to life. On the contrary, his friend JEAN is the man who thinks logically, practically and who is always prepared for everyday things. These two guys meet at the cafe for a friendly talk. However, their debate becomes rather monotonous and develops only in one direction --> Jean criticizes Berenger in everything he does and advises him how to live and what to do to be more normal. Berenger trusts his friend and wants to change, but 'that's not so easy' (p.21). He can only see the obstacles in his way. In this discussion they actually  share their most fundamental opinions on life.
Their debate is often interrupted by the LOGICIAN and THE OLD GENTLEMAN who discuss even more banal issues. The Logician is trying to teach his logic to the Gentleman, who learns quickly and eagerly. They are both devoted to their discussion. However, the logic they practice is absolutely absurd and useless -- if you want an example of it, read the title of this article. 

Anyway, all of these people are disturbed by a huge rhinoceros running in the town. It's not an animal that escaped from the zoo, it's one of the citizens who has decided to become a rhinoceros. As I mentioned before, all of the citizen will eventually go through this transformation, except of Berenger. Even his reasonable friend Jean succumbs to this general trend. Most likely, Ionesco wanted to express his fear of conformity to society. He wanted to show that even the most rational people can act like sheep and follow the crowd. I think he wanted to say that no matter how normal you are, you can be considered freak if the rest of the society is abnormal.

Don't you feel it is still relevant in today's world?
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6 comments:

  1. MillieFebruary 8, 2012 at 12:39 PM

    Have to say that I think we can feel the pressure of becoming a rhino everyday! While reading your articles about this play, I´m more and more convinced to read it by myself.
    BTW I love the way you named the article :)

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  2. Adela SobotkovaFebruary 9, 2012 at 10:31 PM

    Indeed, the theme of Rhinoceros can be easily applied to our world

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2012 at 5:22 AM

    It's interesting that you are talking about rhinos and then suddenly say "the most rational people can act like sheep". That confused me at first, but, of course, it's quite clear. You have interesting insight into Ionesco's motivation. Yes, to answer your question -- I think this is a theme that is never and has never been irrelevant.

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  4. roro -iwannaseeyourblogFebruary 24, 2012 at 5:34 AM

    ...'a freak' =)

    Provocative questions...

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  5. Adela SobotkovaFebruary 25, 2012 at 2:37 AM

    It's just so natural to say that people are like sheep and follow the crowd that it didn't even occur to me that I was using them as an analogy for rhinos.. =)
    (by the way, can I use the word 'analogy' this way?)

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  6. AnonymousApril 8, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    I didn't think anything about your use of analogy until you asked if you could use it that way, which means one of two things: either your use of the word "analogy" is perfectly fine, or mine isn't. Either way, we're probably safe ;)

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