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EXPRESSIONISM IN THE HAIRY APE

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EXPRESSIONISM IN THE HAIRY APE Expressionism in literature arises from reaction people have against mechanization and urbanization, materialism, the bourgeois community and their prosperity as well ... as domination of white families in a community. Through this literal device, writers felt the need to express their predicaments of the unbalance in the society through characterization of individuals in their literal works. Eugene O’Neill is one the literal authors that wrote through expressionism literal device through his famous play, The Hairy Ape. Through the characters of Yank and Mildred, he expresses how urbanization and class set the people in this community apart and the effects of the bourgeois community. The hairy Ape, expresses the difference between characters way of life and how the community has set people apart. Yank, who works in a coal factory is used to bring out class as he serves to create the impression of people in the lower class and hence the name, the hairy ape. He symbolizes the primitive, and these are the people that have not directly benefited from industrialization and urbanization. On the other hand, the characters of Mildred and her aunt are symbolic to the bourgeois life and how some people in the community have benefited from the contemporary mechanized and materialized urban life. Through expressionism, the author has used these characters to demonstrate the concerns on the unequalness and unfairness in a community. The character of Yank has been dehumanized conveying how the Douglas family has dominated this community by making themselves very rich while Yanks suffers in extreme poverty. Yank expresses his inner bent of mind by questioning the urbanization on fifth avenue as it is something that he has never seen before. It is concerning to him to completely the city looks different from his home town. Through expressionism it is evident that the author, uses this as a symbol of classism and capitalism, where he shows that the most hardworking people, get the least out of life. The author has also used expressionism to portray the inner minds of the characters. Yank is bothered when Mildred calls her a filthy beast, and these words play in his mind throughout the text. The words have been used as a symbol of unequalness and hence makes the reader have a bad view of the sophisticated society Mildred is placed in. These inner thoughts give the reader the psychological state of Yank’s mind and hence showing a good use of expressionism to communicate to the reader. [Show More]

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