COMMU

NICATIO
N
FAILURE
AND
ILLUSIO
N IN THE
ZOO ST
Absurditas
ORY
The Zoo Story is a simple drama which contains only two characters
and full with conversation. But is the conversation doing well? Peter is
described as an example of modern American society: wife, house,
kids, pets, middle executive job. He also has time to reading a book in
park which was in the 1950s America is just beginning to the new era
where they need to lower their social sense since they devolve from
the rural city area to the larger city. Peter is a picture of a normal man,
everything is safe, and he doesn’t want to do something outside his
zone. He is seemed to be a man that could or maybe have achieved
the American dream. Meanwhile Jerry is a lonely poor gentleman who
lived in small rooming-house, without family, wife, kids, let alone pets.
We can know it from the way Jerry describe his living condition.
 Their conversation doesn’t get along very well. In one part Peter
seemed so annoyed with Jerry but in other part he is very interesting
with it, and vice versa. At the beginning Peter who has a higher social
class than Jerry tried to avoid the conversation, he answered him
shortly and giving indifferent gesture but still used his politeness in
avoiding the conversation.

JERRY: [stands for a few seconds, looking at PETER, who finally

looks up again, puzzled] Do you mind if we talk?

PETER: [obviously minding] Why . . . no, no.

JERRY: Yes you do; you do.

PETER: [puts his book down, his pipe out and away, smiling] No, I
really; I don’t mind.

JERRY: Yes you do.

PETER: [finally decided] No; I don’t mind at all, really.

JERRY: It’s … it’s a nice day.

PETER: [stares unnecessarily at the sky] Yes. Yes, it is; lovely. (pg. 2)

The lack of communication is not only happened between Jerry and

Peter but also Jerry and his neighbor, Jerry and society, and even
Jerry and the dog. The zoo that always mentioned by Jerry is the
representation of the communication he had with others. Jerry always
mentioned that he wants to tell Peter about the zoo but he doesn’t. It
because the zoo is a metaphor of a communication system he had.
“I went to the zoo to find out more about the way people exist with
animals, and the way animals exist with each other and with people
too. That probably wasn’t a fair test, what with everyone separated by
bars from everyone else, the animals for the most part from each
other, and always the people from the animals.” (pg. 16)

Jerry wants to describe about the communication he had with his story
such as Jerry and the dog, and Jerry and landlady. The story about
the dog trying to bite him in the stair is similar with how their
conversation begins. He surprise Peter with a statement such as Dog
surprise him in the stair. It is also similar with the story about landlady
who attacks him.

Some other things Jerry said that have been related with the
communication problem in this drama is illusion. Jerry said when the
landlady attacked him, he gave her an illusion of love to keep her off.
Jerry overcame the landlady’s lust by giving her fantasy instead of real
experience. It is similar with what Jerry said about a porno card deck
to Peter.

“It’s that when you’re a kid you use the cards (fantasy) as a substitute
for a real experience, and when you’re older you use real experience
as a substitute for the fantasy” (pg. 8).

The ending scene where they two are fighting only for a park bench is
a smart way from Jerry to equalize himself with Peter. Jerry assumes
that Peter is a man not from his class so he is trying to make him
equal in a way getting him into a fight, such as himself, an animal, who
lives separated by bars with society. And he did it. The moment where
Peter provoked and get involved into a fight is a winning moment for
Jerry. Ironically, he has to die to get it. Thus, by forcing Peter to fight,
Jerry also forced him to examine his existence and become aware of
how he is not fully participating in life, Jerry will awaken Peter’s spirit
and bring Peter toward a closer understanding of the grip illusion
holds on him; job, family, routine, and giving him the real pleasure of
being human socially without those illusion. With this drama, Albee
wanted to attract our attention in his unique style to get to know what
is behind the masked lives we lead, to the moment that we cannot
identify ourselves in this modern world