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February 08, 2006
No Monkey Business
Rice, The Adding Machine (1923) -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
page 130
Charles: A king! That's a good one! I'll tell you what you were the first time - if you want to know so much - a monkey.
Mr. Zero is like a monkey in a zoo. He is held captive, feeling instinctive, and incapable of realizing it. Mr. Zero is zero -there is no substance, simply a man striving his whole life for happiness and opportunity and when given so doesn't take it. He is uninteresting, a racist, a poor husband - and yet I did not hate his character. He is trapped in a world of numbers and self-blame. He is so in routine with his life that he is unable to see opportunity even when its right there in his hands(Daisy lying in his arms). Perhaps I do not hate him because his innocense is pure.
Posted by Shanelle Evkovich at February 8, 2006 12:23 AM
Comments
After thinking about this play's ending for a few hours after I read it, I started to wonder if perhaps Rice's point was that the most pitiful human beings on earth -- the ones who must endure the worst suffering (because, after all, in our capitalistic world, there will always be such "losers") -- are the "most favored" by God, and granted the greatest rewards in the afterlife.
"Less is more" -- considered a statement of faith by some Christians -- is the path to true happiness, according to this story. After all, Shrdlu mentions that practically everyone on the Elysian Plains is some sort of "vagabond."
Also... With respect to Shrdlu's belief that he deserves eternal punishment...
It seems to me that both Shrdlu and Mr. Zero feel great remorse and guilt for what they have done in their lives, and they accept (but do not receive) a fate of eternal punishment for their crimes, expressing this remorse. After all, only a moral soul would want to be punished for its wrongdoings, right? If your soul is completely evil and immoral, you will believe you are above justice, and reject it.
I think it all goes back to something I learned from a friend a long time ago -- there is no such thing as a lost cause. As long as you feel guilty and want forgiveness (remember the courtroom scene where Mr. Zero pleads with the jury?), you're proving your loyalty to divine justice (just like Shrdlu did).
Posted by: ChrisU at February 8, 2006 04:37 PM
When I read this, my understanding was that Mr. Zero had alowly been de-evolving throughout his many lives, so that in his present life he was a lifeform even lower than the monkey. After all, the monkey is free, and it is ignorant enough of the bleakness of like (as potrayed by Rice) to be pretty happy.
Posted by: Megan Ritter at February 8, 2006 04:48 PM