Rhinoceros Guilt and Blame Quotes

People are quick to blame others in this play for just about everything that happens. What’s interesting about Berenger is that he goes back and forth between refusing to accept any responsibility (like here) and feeling as though he is the sole person who is responsible for everything. Quite the fickle fella.

See, right there. One of those dang “shoulds.” Just a couple minutes back, he had nothing to do with the ish, and now he’s on to feeling guilty about the whole argument thing. Just a sneak peak of the utter guilt he’ll take on about everything that goes down with Jean’s transformation. But more on that later.

Spoken like a true anti-establishment worker! Botard doesn’t trust “management” or government or anyone with any kind of power, so he is quick to blame them for everything that happens—even people turning into rhinoceroses.

This little blame game here is a gem. In the office, Mr. Papillon is in charge, but he still answers to the upper management, so it must be their fault. Like Botard blaming those who stand higher than him on the corporate ladder, Papillon is willing to do the same.

This is Botard in his true tin-foil hat conspiracy theory moment. He knows exactly who to blame, and he will tell everyone who that someone is. But he’ll get to it at a later time. It’s not that he doesn’t know, it’s just that now is not the right time to tell everyone. It couldn’t be that he, like everyone else, has absolutely no idea what is happening, right?

Even good old Dudard can’t help but pass the buck to the management. That’s not to say that management shouldn’t be blamed for certain things, but everybody in the office is willing to blame them and hold them responsible for everything. That’s one convenient scapegoat!

Berenger acts like the bigger man here and comes to apologize to Jean for the argument they had back at the café. Jean basically just calls him stupid again, and then it’s rhino time. Just keep in mind that Berenger, at this point, blames himself for the quarrel with Jean, which only makes him blame himself when Jean turns into a rhinoceros.

We all know those people who have the infuriating ability to make everything about themselves. Which is kind of what Berenger does here. He blames Jean for doing something directly to him, as if Jean’s transformation was all about Berenger.

This time around, when someone transforms, Berenger blames Daisy for a change. He still can’t fully grasp that once people have made up their minds to join the herd, there is almost nothing that can be done to stop them. It’s still gotta be a human’s fault.

Poor, poor Berenger. It’s all his fault. It’s his fault Jean transformed, it’s his fault Daisy left, and it’s his fault he’s still human. Luckily, Berenger snaps out of this, puts on his big-boy pants, and stands by his decision to stay human. That’s one way to transform your guilt—well, unless rhinos don’t get that emotion anyway.