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Jon Alston
"Two takes on Guilt and Consequence"
"No human action is without consequence, no human is without guilt." Such a statement implies immense pessimism, and such a view of humanity itself implies that all of mankind entertains the same dreadful external circumstances. However, another view of such a statement implies sadness and empathy; as it could be read that all actions have a reaction, and that all of humanity makes mistakes as a result. It is true that both of these views hold merit, especially in regards to both "The Zoo Story" by Edward Albee, and Top Dog/ Underdog by Suzan Lori-parks. I intend to argue that in each of these plays, the aforementioned statement can be assessed by both described understandings of that statement. This, in turn, shines two very different lights on each play in which different readers are able to see. Consequence is defined as something that logically or naturally follows from an action or condition; an effect. In Albees "Zoo Story" the play is driven by the actions and choices of its lead character and protagonist, Jerry. In this play we see the consequences of the actions that Jerry takes, and also those of Peter, the other main character of the play. Consequences do not always have to connote negativity. In "Zoo Story" however, the actions of the characters more often than not lead to negative circumstances. Yet, even so, if one were to try and understand the source of such actions, one may be more inclined to empathize with Jerry, and especially Peter.
In regards to the major discussion in question, this play can be understood from two very different perspectives. The first suggests, that Jerry has gone insane, at one point exclaiming "Im crazy, you bastard," and as a result his actions are meant to cause harm, and these actions are a result of previous guilt, which were the result of prior actions accordingly. He states regret in regards to his interaction with his landladys dog (trying to appease, and then kill the dog), whereas his attempts to connect proved futile. He expresses that "kindness and cruelty… expressed together, at the same time, are the teaching emotion, and what is gained is loss." Therefore, because of his guilt and inability to connect with people and animals, Jerry has given up hope, and chooses to antagonize Peter which eventually leads to his death. In a sense, one group of readers would say that because of the choices that Jerry made, he deserved to die, and that his guilt, a consequence (negative) of prior actions, does not justify the way in which he assaulted Peter. Even in the case of Peter, he chose to fight the estranged Jerry over a bench when he could have walked away. He chose to pick up the knife, and therefore the consequence is the guilt that he must face as he is responsible for killing Jerry.
On the other hand, one group of readers may say that the actions of Jerry do force negative consequences, yet the guilt that forces these actions was inherited. Perhaps the guilt that Jerry feels in his inability to connect with anything is the result of the behavior of his parents and the incidental deaths of all of those whom he ever had a chance to connect with. As revealed in the play, his mother left his father when he was younger and was found dead in a dump, his father died not long after his mother. Then upon the day of his high school graduation, his aunt whom he was living with also died, and he was left alone. The only other possible connection he describes is that of a homosexual relationship he held at the age of fifteen.
Through his description of the incident he now sees that relationship to have been somewhat perverse and unnatural. He states that "I hang my head in shame, I was h-o-m-o-s-e-x-u-a-l, queer queer queer queer." Also exclaiming that he was more so in love with the sex than the boy, and furthers himself by relaying the same sense in regards to the "little ladies." Here, one is able to feel sorrow for Jerry because it can be seen that he is clearly unable to share any real connection further than sex with anyone, man nor woman. This also seen in his description of his apartment, more specifically, the empty picture frames. In this sense, Jerry is seen as a tragic character, his tragic flaw being his inability to connect, his predetermined state of loneliness. In this view, he is not seen as an evil, insane man out to destroy, but one that is full of shame and guilt due to his unfortunate life, and has chosen to give up on life. His antagonizing of Peter to kill him is only a means of freeing himself. In reference to Peter, he may be seen as a victim of Jerrys plan to eliminate himself. Peters actions were driven by a fear of guilt had he not chosen to entertain Jerry to try and help him in the first place. Yet, this decision eventually led to a situation wherein he is responsible for Jerrys death; however it was Jerry that threw himself on the knife.
It is clear that the two very different views of this play give two very different experiences as a result. As stated earlier it is true that all human action has consequence and that no human is without guilt, however this can be interpreted in a negative manner or in a more open light wherein one must try to understand human action, and guilt.
In Susan Lori-Parks "Top Dog/ Underdog" the themes of consequence and guilt play out very effectively, and one can clearly see this relationship in regards to the characters of Lincoln and Booth. As in Albees "Zoo Story" the action of the play eventually leads to a situation in which one of the major characters is killed at the end. This type of tragedy extends itself to the thematic progressions of decisions and actions, actions and consequence, then consequence and guilt. There are two major perspectives that this play can be seen, as in "Zoo Story." In one light, the eventual death of Lincoln is the eventual result of actions that both Lincoln and Booth take in their struggle to be "Top Dogs" over one another. The other light suggests that Lincolns death was in turn a release from the struggle and guilt that both men faced throughout their entire lives, and they unfortunately inherited this struggle from their parents.
In this play, it is sad to see the fight for superiority amongst themselves that theothers entertain as the play goes on. This especially since each of them is in the same circumstance in regards to the outside world; they are underdogs. Their inability to get over this struggle drives the action of the play, and the consequences of these actions lead to the isolation of theothers from everyone else (Lincolns ex -wife Cookie and Booths girlfriend Grace), and an ironical situation in which there is only the two of them together; their struggle for more has left them with less. Unfortunately the twoothers fail to see this, and instead of choosing to work together to try and overcome the struggle for a self identity, and a place in society, they instead fight for power and this higher identity over one another.
To many readers, their fate is one that is well deserved, and is merely the result of many poor choices. For example, Booths obsession with the game Three- card Monty pushes causes him to lose his girlfriend Grace, and eventually leads to his maddening state wherein his rage and frustration causes him to kill her. Eventually, the conflict between the twoothers leads to the death and murder of Lincoln, as a result of his constant attempts to out do hisother, this time in his final game of three �card Monty. To other readers, theothers situation is a tragic one, as can be seen in the case of Jerry in "Zoo Story." Theothers have right in having an attitude that some things are owed to them. Their mother was a drug dealer who often frequented with men other than their father, who was a drunk who left the two of them at the ages of sixteen and ten. They were born in poverty and depravity and were never given an opportunity to see the world outside of the struggle that they inherited, and on top of all of that, they were given the names Lincoln and Booth as a joke from their father.
Since the two of them only knew a world where there has only been the two of them, it is no surprise that the two of them wind up together. In this world, the only one they have been exposed to, they can only fight against one another in order to fulfill their need to feel worth something. As Booth expresses, he plans to "be somebody, be something something big," yet unfortunately he has little to no understanding of the world outside of his own. And since hisother is the only thing inside of this world, he has to be bigger than hisother to feel whole.
This need to feel whole leads to eventual circumstances in which the two are left to themselves by all of the women in their lives, and eventually to the climactic end of their struggle, the death of Lincoln. In this light, the two are seen as victims of an inherited depravity. One can assume that they never really had a chance after what they were left with early on, and the evident tragedy was the result of this, even seen given their names. This view of the play offers a very different experience as well, as the actions of the characters in the play are the result of shame and guilt inherited from their parents. In return, their actions led to negative consequences as a result of this inherited state. As the reader is able to empathize and understand the situation as opposed to merely pointing the finger at theothers, two very contrasting experiences of the play are creates, just as in Albees "Zoo Story".
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