zoo story
In Edward Albee's The Zoo Story, Jerry has trouble distinguishing between emotionsof love and anger, because of his unhappy childhood. This is shown repeatedly throughout thestory in both is words and actions. His inability to organize his feelings is what ultimately causes When Jerry tells the story of the dog, he says he first fed the dog hamburgers in order togain its trust, and allow him free passage throughout his apartment. When this didn't change hisrelationship with the animal, he fed it a poisoned hamburger in an attempt to kill. Later in hisstory he tells Peter "that I didn't want the dog to die. I didn't, and not just because I'dpoisoned him" (18). He reaffirms this again in the story when he says "I loved the dog now, andI wanted him to love me" (19). At first, he showed the dog love with un-poisoned hamburgers.
Thisexcerpt shows Jerry's inability to distinguish between love and hate. It is thisconfusion that ultimately causes his fight with Peter and his own death. After this, he calms down and feels love for Peter, and says "I came untoyou, and you have comforted me. He questions whether hisfeeding of the dog was showing love. Then his emotions changed to hate, and he attempted to kill the dog with a poisoned burger. His temper finally caught up with Jerry,and he paid with his life. It is not surprising to see Jerry have the same sort ofmood swings toward the end of the play. Jerry wants to connect with Peter, and relates to him much in the same way as he didwith the dog. He also expresses hisconfusion during his speech about the dog; "And, was trying to feed the dog an act of love? And, perhaps, was the dog's attempt to bite me not an act of love? If we can somisunderstand, well then, why have we invented the word love in the first place?" (20). Thiswould have a terrible emotional impact on any child, and explains the erratic behavior exhibitedby Jerry. "I never see the pretty little ladies more than once,"he says (12). And finally, he felt love for the dog again. This is because of his inability to connect with people.
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