O’NEILL’S HAIRY APE: DRAMATIC SELF-ACTUALISATION AND MASLOW’S HUMAN NEEDS

Bahee Hadaegh¹, Elham Haghrezaie^2
1Assistant Prof. Shiraz University, IRAN, bhadaegh@rose.shirazu.ac.ir
²M.A. Student, Shiraz University, IRAN, e.haghrezaei@gmail.com
*Bahee Hadaegh

ABSTRACT
O’Neill’s proletariat character, is the embodiment of an individual’s roaring for existence. The portrait of him depicts a human being bereft of the individuality needed for him to live and breathe. Abraham Maslow considers individual identity a process through which one shows needs the satisfaction of which is crucial to one’s well-being, and consequently, the ultimate actualized self, determines one’s happiness. The role of society in providing the individual with opportunities to satisfy those needs is irrefutable. Yank’s needs as a human being are exploited by the hands of capitalism in the most desirable manner to the ideology-owners, and his striving to escape the pre-established order results in his sinking into the void. Gazing at Hairy Ape from a political perspective has enabled the critics to outline Yank’s character as the puppet in the hands of the industrialists. The anti-humanistic effects of industrialization is depicted through Yank’s conception of himself as steel and his alienation from his own nature. Having been confined to the constructed reality desired for him to perceive, Yank’s individuality proves illusive when faced with the illusiveness of the reality which gave birth to it. In this study, first, Maslow’s theory of human needs is elucidated and its significance in the capitalist society is examined drawing on Marx and Althusser’s perspectives towards capitalism and ideology. Second, Yank’s position as a human being bearing the ineluctable desires forming his individuality while being fed by the capitalist system is discussed. Using Maslow's theory, Yank's actualized self is shown disintegrated by the erroneous nature of the external world. Facing the constructional nature of reality, while being lost and left alone, he struggles to find the truth in himself and satisfy his needs in the real world. However, this capitalist world does not offer him protection. He is not able to “yank” the chains locking him to the signifieds which give sense to his existence: nothingness.

Keywords: Capitalism, Needs, Identity, Individuality, Ideology, Reification, Interpellation, Self-actualization.