Being in the right place at the right time. Meeting the lady or lord of your dreams. Being on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and inheriting a billion smackeroos. Is it actually fate, or is it a higher power, or maybe just dumb luck? Is there such a thing as fate anyway? Or do people have free will to change fate?
Whew, these are big questions. Luckily for us, Ionesco gives us a taste of how to grapple with ‘em.
Questions About Fate and Free Will
- What are Jean’s reasons for changing into a rhinoceros? Does it seem like he has a choice?
- How about Dudard? Does his philosophizing put him more or less on the free-will train?
- Do you think Berenger had the power to stop Jean, Dudard, or Daisy from changing into a rhino? Why or why not?
- What keeps Berenger from changing into a rhinoceros?
Chew on This
While Berenger clings to the idea that there is no controlling who changes into a rhinoceros for much of the play—as though it were a disease, which would make it sort of a biological-weakness-fate sort of thing—Ionesco’s take on the matter seems pretty clear. Each person we see make the change makes a conscious decision to do so. So Ionesco makes it plain that you have the choice to either follow or stand up against something that is taking over the world as you know it.
There is really only one decision that Berenger makes that affects his outcome in the play. His choice to drink, pursue Daisy, or to reconcile with Jean have no true bearing on the situation. The only decision that matters in the grand scheme of things is his decision not to change.