Berenger is like the Scott Pilgrim of the whole “Man vs. The Natural World” theme. Instead of Seven Evil Exes, he’s got to battle it out with rhinoceroses.
There’s a catch, though. While Berenger is surrounded by these seemingly natural creatures, there is nothing natural about their existence. These were people once, and they’ve made the decision to take a different path from the whole humanity thing. Berenger’s fight is more against the idea that becoming one of the rhinoceroses somehow makes you more a part of the natural world than it is with Nature itself.
Questions About Man vs. The Natural World
- Whose transformation stems from an “animal” instinct?
- Why do you think the characters spend so much time debating over the number of horns the rhinoceroses have?
- What does Papillon mean in English? What does Boeuf mean? How do their animal names make them susceptible to rhinoceros-hood?
- How does the setting of the play connect with the natural world? Would the play be different if it were set in a different type of environment, say Paris?
Chew on This
At one point, Berenger looks out on the herd of rhinoceroses and comments that it’s always been said that rhinos are solitary animals. Ah, the irony. The rhinoceros is another way for Ionesco to demonstrate how willing people are to give up their individuality to succumb to the will of the group.
Through Jean, Ionesco places the natural world at direct odds with mankind. Jean doesn’t simply want to become a rhinoceros, he also starts to despise people. It can only be one way or the other, he seems to say. If you make the choice to change, you are now adversaries with humankind.