The Hairy Ape

The Hairy Ape is a play written by Eugene O'Neill and first published in 1922.

Yank is an arrogant and imbecilic sailor who admits to being one, but who on the other hand endears himself to people while struggling to make sense of his life in the face of the world around him.

On the ship, he will meet the philanthropic daughter of a steel magnate, with whom he will have a love-hate relationship after she unintentionally insults him...

The story is quite universal because it reflects the dilemmas and existential weaknesses of every human being. Someone who struggles to be independent of others, but cannot cope with all that life throws at him.

"The firemen’s forecastle of a transatlantic liner an hour after sailing from New York for the voyage across. Tiers of narrow, steel bunks, three deep, on all sides. An entrance in rear. Benches on the floor before the bunks. The room is crowded with men, shouting, cursing, laughing, singing—a confused, inchoate uproar swelling into a sort of unity, a meaning—the bewildered, furious, baffled defiance of a beast in a cage. Nearly all the men are drunk. Many bottles are passed from hand to hand. All are dressed in dungaree pants, heavy ugly shoes. Some wear singlets, but the majority are stripped to the waist".