Rhinoceros Identity Quotes

This is the old “you think you know somebody and then they go transform into a rhinoceros” moment—kind of like the “he was a nice quiet person” moment on the news when they interview the neighbors of someone who has done something even worse than turn into a rhinoceros. Jean’s point is that we can never truly know someone. Deep down, everyone’s identity is his or her own, and what they show the world is not who they really are.

Once you put on that uniform or that badge the government assigns you, you are no longer an individual. That is what Ionesco seems to be saying. The coming of the rhinoceroses (or the Fascists, if you want to get more symbolic) means the death of individuality and identity.

This seems like a great time to talk about werewolf transformations (we know, it’s always a good time to talk about those). In a lot of movies and TV shows the transformation from human to wolf is incredibly violent and painful. There’s a lot of yelling and things happening to bones that just looks gnarly. In a way, this is the pain that comes with losing your identity and becoming someone (or thing) else. This is what Berenger fears and what he refuses to do. He is himself, and he will not give that up. He will not undergo the transformation. He will never howl at the moon!