The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill is a piece of Propaganda:-

'The Hairy Ape' by Eugene O'Neill is a piece of Propaganda:-

In Victorian era,following the researches of Darwin & other evolutionary scientists,there was a wide speared faith in the gradual advancement of mankind towards an era of perfect peace & prosperity. It was felt that the golden age round the corner,in America Walt Whitman-leading poet & Emerson shared this faith. But by the time, O'Neill took to writing. This dream had been shattered. The fruit of science & technology had already turned to dust & ashes. O'Neil is the mouth piece of this disillusionment.his works are an expression of the disintegration of society, of the spiritual & cultural Westland that contemporary west civilization has become. The disintegration of Yank's personality in The Hairy Ape is a symbol of the disintegration of American industrialized & mechanized society. What happens to Yank in the play was happening to millions in the post world war era.this spiritual loneliness & sense of isolation was a wide speared in the world.
When The Hairy Ape was first published,it was called "A Propaganda Play",an advocacy of the cause of the poor & not a factual representation of the contemporary situation. In a letter to The New-york Herald Tribunal, O'Neill replied to the charge:-
"The Hairy Ape was propaganda in the sense that it was symbol of man who has lost his old harmony with nature, the harmony which he use to have as an animal & has not yet acquired in a spiritual way.thus,not being able to find it on earth. Nor in heaven. He is in the middle, trying to make peace.Yank can't go forward & so he tries to go back.this is what his shaking hands with the gorilla ment.but he can't go back to Belonging either.the gorilla kills him."
The first scene presented Yank as having a great faith in himself also, as having an equally great sense of belonging to the Stoke Hall & the engine. He identifies himself with the stream & smoke & steal.
However in scene three when Mildred insults Yank by calling him 'The Fealthy Beast' that the disillusionment of Yank begins.he feels himself insulted in some unknown fashion. In the very heart of his pride, Yank begins to fill that he no longer belongs.The Hairy Ape thus centered on Yank's loss of faith in himself as well as in the world he lives in.he in search of his identity discovers firstly that he is alone & the world is impossible to live in & secondly the steal has no power within him but a prison around him.
After being rejected by IWW,Yank tries to belong to the hairy ape. He goes to the gorilla cage,shakes hand with it but the gorilla kills him...!
Both the rich & the poor Yank & Mildred have lost the creativity. Technology & machine rendered life soulless & mechanical.men no longer feels that he is an important part of creative process.
In short, The Hairy Ape is a story of the modern man who has lost the harmony with nature & failed to control his excess or over use of machinery.

Thank You.