Eugene Ionescos rhinoceros: True Means Resides In Action Not Words :: essays research papers

Eugene Ionescos "Rhinoceros" True Means Resides in Action not Words     I awoke sweating. Breathing heavily, I glanced over at my clock andread the time. 400 AM. I wasnt sure if this was reality or not so I ran mypalm over my scalp. No bump. A sigh of relief came over me. "Phew," I said,"it was only a ideate."     This is a dream I go for had often throughout the past equal of years.Each time, the bump in my dream gets bigger and bigger and each time I wake upIm more and more frightened that the dream was real. "I will not be arhinoceros," I tell myself over and over. "I will not."     These words I tell myself are well meaningless though. They are wordsand nothing more. Futile attempts to ease the pain of my "rhinocerotic" life.The only way to really not become a rhinoceros is by making the existentialdecision not to do so.     A main theme in Eugene I onescos, Rhinoceros, is that true meaningresides in action rather than in mere words. A resistance to taking action thereforeresults in ones becoming a rhinoceros. Jean illustrates this in the beginningof Act 2, scene 2, when we propose Jean and Berenger bickering. Berenger feels thatJean isnt looking or feeling well and threatens to get him a doctor. Jeanresists by saying, "Youre not going to get the doctor because I dont want thedoctor. I can look after myself." (pp. 62) This refusal comes from hisarrogant view of himself as a "Master of his own thoughts," (pp. 61) and"Having will-power" (pp. 7) By seeing the doctor, Jean would have puthimself in the position of taking responsibility for his actions and seeing thathe wasnt always the "master of his own thoughts" and that his will-power wasactually quite weak. It would be admitting the meaninglessness in his futileattempts to remain a human. He didnt want to see that he, in fact, wasbecoming a rhin oceros.     Had Jean agreed to see a doctor, he may have been saved. By seeing thedoctor, Jean would have come to terms with his becoming a rhinoceros. Aftercoming to terms with his current state, he could then change his subsequentstate to one of taking action to be an individual.     Berenger, however, illustrates the power in making an existentialdecision. The trumpeting call of the rhinoceros was a coaxing one, butBerenger was able to resist it through his commitment and determination. In thebeginning of Act 3, Berenger and Dudard are speaking after Berenger was awakened