Jean

Character Analysis

The Most Same-As-Everyone-Else Man in the World

Do you have a few of those friends who think they know everything? Those people who might have the best intentions but still come off like they’re lecturing you all the time? Well, Jean is kind of like that, plus a pretty snappy dresser.

It seems like it would be tough to be Jean’s friend, because he kind of acts like he’s got it all figured out and that if his friends (specifically, Berenger) acted just like him, everything would be fine. Even if that were the case (and it’s probably not) it still comes off as pompous. Some might side with Jean in all of this, but some of you might want to kick him.

JEAN: This is what you must do: dress yourself properly, shave every day, put on a clean shirt. (1.1.634-635)

Yeah, thanks for the tip, mom. Seriously, do people want their friends telling them what they “must” do? Berenger doesn’t. He seems to take some of Jean’s advice to heart, but he also seems unwilling to commit to the new lifestyle Jean has prescribed for him.

A Crack in the Façade

So, Ionesco sets Jean up as the buttoned-down, every-hair-in-the-right-place, super-together citizen. Which sets him at odds with his friend Berenger right off the bat. Seriously, why are they friends again?

More important, maybe, this demeanor makes Berenger believe that Jean is content with who he is. That’s why Berenger is so shocked when Jean transforms into a rhinoceros. Good old “dress properly” Jean totally loses it on Berenger:

JEAN: It’s not that I hate people. I’m indifferent to them—rather they disgust me; and they’d better stay out of my way, or I’ll run them down. (2.2.239-241)

Pretty soon after this line, Jean’s command of language fades, his skin gets rough, and he paces and charges and huffs and goes “Brrr.” Which is the rhino equivalent of shaving, wearing a tie, and putting on a clean shirt.

Jean is really the only one we get to see go through the transformation process. Plus, his transformation serves as the end of Act 2, and Ionesco doesn’t break his acts arbitrarily. Each act ends with Berenger making a realization of some kind. Act 1 ends with his decision that he’s not quite ready to “cultivate his mind” and make the changes he said he was going to make.

By the end of Act 2, Berenger sees that no one is immune to this rhinoceros thing. If his dear friend Jean could change, then anyone could change—even him. He has no choice but to accept that the rhinos are slowly taking over the town.

So back to Jean. Even though he’s only in two scenes, he plays a major role in Rhinoceros. He functions as an antagonist for Berenger, based on being a well-functioning member of society, but he also serves Ionesco’s purposes, because he’s a well-functioning member of society.

You know, he’s on time for things, does things in moderation, dresses and acts as one ought to dress and act by society's standards. He has the willpower that Berenger seems to lack. Which is exactly what makes him so susceptible to switching to the other team.

It’s almost as if—symbol alert—Ionesco is using Jean to represent conformity. Yes, everyone other than Berenger conforms in the end, but Jean appears eager to join the masses, and he does it early on. He’s well-educated and well-mannered, but not much of an individual:

JEAN: I’m master of my own thoughts, my mind doesn’t wander. I think straight. I always think straight. (2.2.140-141)

Here, translate “straight” as “exactly the same as everyone else.” So in a way, Jean lacks imagination. Like the Logician and Botard, he prizes clear thinking. But in his case, clear thinking leads him to join with the growing masses instead of maintaining his own personality.