The Zoo Story Themes

The Zoo Story is play that’s themes can relate to people today. These themes are very universal to today’s standards and well chosen for the plays plot, which fills into the storyline itself. Such themes used within the play are isolation, social outcast, and loneliness. Even though the themes may not apply to some people, they may express how many people may feel or describe people in their general outlook in life. The author really put deep emotions into his themes to really touch the readers and make them feel what the character is feeling. All of the themes tie together evenly to each specific part Jerry explains about his life.

The first theme used within this story is isolation. Regardless of who you are, most people have felt isolation at one point in time during their life. Anyone can really relate to this theme the author used in this play. Jerry feels isolated from the world because he has no one to turn to or talk to. No one really knows if he chooses to be like this or not though. Jerry’s isolation keeps him from communicating with other people while he lives by himself in a room in a 4-story boarding house. Jerry could have isolated himself from everyone else as a defensive trait. Jerry could have been afraid of something harming him or in that sort of nature so he chose to isolate himself from people in general so no harm could come to his well being.

The second theme is social outcast. Jerry himself is a social outcast. Jerry feels that he is portrayed as being rejected by society, even though it is him that chooses to reject himself from society. In turn Jerry is being a loner instead of being a social outcast that is portrayed as the theme of the play. Jerry explains his life to a random man sitting on a park bench. He explains to Peter, the man on the bench, about his life by starting a conversation about what has happened at the zoo in order to talk to Peter. Jerry keeps anticipating Peter on what happened at the zoo but refuses to tell