Analytical Comparison: Identity Crisis in Literary Works

This essay provides an analytical comparison of two literary texts: Eugene O'Neill's play "The Hairy Ape" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Babylon Revisited." The essay focuses on the theme of identity crisis as it manifests in both works, examining how each text portrays the struggles of indiv...Read More

Running head: ANALYTICAL COMPARISON OF LITERARY TEXTS
ANALYTICAL COMPARISON OF LITERARY TEXTS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Literature serves to be the mirror of the society. The literature of an era is observed to be
capable enough to paint a proper picture of the then practices as are followed within the given
society. The following essay attempts a discussion on the identity crisis that was maintained by
the residents of the United States of America in the early nineteenth century. The essay attempts
a proper discussion on one of the famous plays and one of the most celebrated short stories of the
era. The essay opens with an overview of both the play and the short story and discusses the
major argument of both the literary pieces of work. The essay concludes with the comparison of
the chosen compositions on the basis of the identity crises as have been depicted within the
compositions.
Overview of The Hairy Ape
The Hairy Ape is one of the most celebrated works of the celebrated American
playwright, Eugene O’Neill. The play is considered to be one of the expressionist plays that were
composed during the early years of the twentieth century (O'neill, 2014). The play highlights the
story of one of the unthinking laborers, Yank who is observed to have been dealing with the
issues of identity and his place in the society that is observed to have been controlled by the rich
people residing within the society. The play opens with the firemen and the workers of the ship
sitting and talking amongst themselves. Yank is considered to be the leader of the group and is
considered to be the leader of the group and is found to be hugely respected by the crew as well
(Dang, 2019). The play highlights the helpful nature of the fair-skinned woman Mildred who is
observed to have been obsessed with the helping of the lower classes within the society. She has
been trying to help the members of the lower caste of the society in improving their livelihoods.
The third scene of the play demonstrates the encounter of Mildred and Yank and further

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highlights that Mildred had fainted during the incident due to her fear on the sight of the beastly
physique of Yank (O'Neill, 2019). The play progressed to highlight the realization on the part of
Yank that he has been caged in a physical as well as psychological cage that was constructed by
the fair-skinned inhabitants of the society. The play ends with Yank finding a similarity with one
of the caged gorillas who crushes Yank to death. The end signifies the huge identity crisis that
Yank faces during his lifetime.
Overview of Babylon Revisited
Babylon Revisited is one of most celebrated works that has been composed by Francis
Scott Key Fitzgerald, a celebrated American writer who is known to have been depicting the
excessiveness and the flamboyance of the Jazz Age. The writer in this short story sheds light on
developing the portrait of the person who has been known for squandering his own life
(Fitzgerald, 2015). The story hugely throws light on the times that are faced by the mankind in
the present times. The story in discussion might be highlighted as one of the elegiac stories that
was composed on the basis of the repentance that the author had felt after the complete
breakdown as has been faced by his wife, Zelda. In this short story, the author tends to highlight
the issues as have been faced by himself all his life (Malmgren, 2017). The short story highlights
the realization on the part of the author regarding the times that he had lost and the various
factors that could have saved him from facing the current situation as well. The author further
highlights the realization his part regarding the costs that humans have to endure in order to live
an eventful and large life as compared to the other members of the society (Von Cannon &
Quesenberry, 2017). The author further highlights the fact that the cost of living a larger life
cannot be measured in financial terms alone. The author opines and makes the readers
comprehend the fact that the cost of living might further be measured with the help of the

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spiritual, psychological and the emotional elements that are observed to be a major part of the
cost that is incurred by the person who has been living the life. The short story in discussion
highlights the psychology of the author during the completion of his lifetime after the Great
Depression had struck the United States of America. Fitzgerald through the given story
highlights the various expectations of the children from their parents in case they lose one of
their parents (Jackson, 2016). The composition demonstrates the huge identity crisis that is faced
by the protagonist and the other key characters of the story due to the Great Depression that is
faced by the concerned residents of the United States of America.
Comparison based on identity and individualism
The literary compositions that have been discussed in this case utilize the themes of
identity and individualism in discussing the various societal factors that were maintained during
the era. The play, The Hairy Ape is known to have been highlighting the issues that are related to
the identity crisis that was faced by the dark-skinned and the poor people residing in the
occident. The play highlights the identity crisis on the part of the protagonist of the play, Yank
(Midha, 2019). The protagonist is observed to have been in search of the factors and the issues
that tended to put forth a boundary among the fair-skinned and the dark-skinned people within
the country. The protagonist is observed to have lost all belonging and familiarity with the
human world and finds himself cages both psychologically and physically. The identity of the
protagonist, Yank, as a human being is observed to have been robbed from him through the
various conditions of imprisonment and discrimination. The attempt on the part of Yank in order
to develop a proper friendship and a familiarity with a gorilla highlights the huge amount of
discrimination that he had faced from the fellow human beings (Murphy, 2018). This further

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highlights the animal like treatment that was bestowed on him by the other members of the
society.
On the other hand, Babylon Revisited highlighted the lack of the identity as was faced by
the residents of the United States of America due to the Great Depression that had hit the
country. The protagonist of the short story highlights the major issues that were faced by the
people in terms of their individualism and their understanding of the self-identity. The story
helps in understanding the various identity crises that were faced by the residents of the country
(Von Cannon, 2016). The identity crisis is primarily observed among the people who belonged to
the upper middle class of the society and thereby led to the conditions wherein the people faced a
great deal of issues which led to the loss of their identity as human beings. The story portrays the
various issues that were faced by the then rich people due to the sudden financial downfall of the
nation.
Conclusion
The above discussion might be summed up with the fact that the early nineteenth century
literature highlighted the huge identity crisis that were faced by the residents of the era. The
authors and the varied nature of literature highlights the fact that there were a number of factors
that had led to the lack of personal identity and individuality among the residents of the era. The
authors emphasized that the cost of living a larger life should be measured in financial terms and
the spiritual, psychological and emotional elements that are observed to be a major part of the
life of the person concerned irrespective of all the discriminatory factors.

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References
Dang, C. (2019). Struggling between Ancient and Modern Life: Yank’s Quest of Self-identity in
The Hairy Ape. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 9(1), 112-117.
Fitzgerald, F. S. (2015). Babylon Revisited. BoD E-Short.
Jackson, J. H. (2016). Arguing About Jazz in the Parisian Café: Jazz, Race, and Literary
Communities in 1920s Paris. In The Thinking Space (pp. 133-142). Routledge.
Malmgren, C. D. (2017). Revisiting “Babylon Revisited”: A Critical Retrospective. The F. Scott
Fitzgerald Review, 15(1), 81-95.
Midha, K. R. P. (2019). Search for identity in The Hairy Ape–by Eugene O’Neill. Journal
Current Science, 20(04).
Murphy, D. (2018). An American Futurism? Corporeal History in O'Neill's The Hairy Ape and
Santell's Film Adaptation. The Eugene O'Neill Review, 39(1), 114-133.
O'neill, E. (2014). The hairy ape. The Floating Press.
O'Neill, E. (2019). The Hairy Ape. The Eugene O'Neill Review, 40(1), 10-16.
Von Cannon, M. (2016). Fitzgerald and Hemingway. American Literary Scholarship, 2016(1),
153-170.
Von Cannon, M., & Quesenberry, K. (2017). Fitzgerald and Hemingway. American Literary
Scholarship, 2017(1), 183-204.