Character Clues

Character Analysis

Speech and Dialogue

Plays are virtually all speech, so it's no wonder that this is the main tool of characterization in The Zoo Story. For instance, Peter says:

Well, I make around eighteen thousand a year, but I don't carry more than forty dollars at any one time…in case you're a…a holdup man…ha ha ha. (89)

That tells you something about Peter; he's got money, he's respectable, and he carries that respectability self-consciously; he's awkward and uncomfortable. It also tells you something about Jerry—he's not respectable. He's potentially dangerous—at least in Peter's eyes (and as it turns out, Peter is right).

Actions

If people aren't talking in a play, then they're doing something. And while there isn't much being done in The Zoo Story, what there is contributes to characterization. For instance, Jerry throwing himself on the knife: there were signs that he was unhappy and erratic before he did that, but that action really clinches the deal.

Direct Characterization

Before the first line of the play, Albee gives a paragraph long description of each of the main characters—he tells you what they look like and a bit about who they are: "Although [Peter] is moving into middle age, his dress and his manner would suggest a man younger"—which is to say, Peter is boring and stodgy, but would like to appear to be just a little less so. For his part, Jerry "has, to come closest to it, a great weariness." Jerry is a little younger but, as the descriptions suggest, a lot more beaten down.