Rhinoceros Transformation Quotes

Sometimes, the guy who just likes to lie around on the couch all day and watch TV has some of the most insightful things to say. That’s kind of the case with Berenger early on in the play. He’s a drunk, he lacks ambition, and he doesn’t even really get phased by the first rhinoceros. But when it comes to embracing who he is as a human, he’s on top of it. And he’s not willing to change just because other people think it might be cool.

“Hey look at that car that guy is driving. Everyone seems to think it’s the coolest car around. I should probably get a car just like that.” Ah, the birth of a trend. It happens really fast sometimes, and before you know it everyone is driving the same cool car and wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music. That’s what happens with the rhinoceroses. One person does it, someone else joins in, and just like that their numbers start to skyrocket.

Ionesco gives us a nice little laugh here, and he demonstrates how the transformation gives people at least one moment where they are functioning as two things. Jean is not fully a rhinoceros at this point, since he’s still thinking of things like institutionalized medicine, but he’s already thinking of himself as being an animal. Do rhinoceroses have health insurance?

Berenger is talking about Jean’s skin. Creepy, right? This is the one real visual Ionesco gives us of the entire transformation process. We see Jean’s attitude, beliefs, and language change, but here, we also get to see him changing into something foreign right before Berenger’s eyes. There is no way Berenger can shake this image, and it sticks with him for the rest of the show. Yes, green!

There it is. Plain and simple. Jean is basically saying, “I am not the man I once was. I’ve transformed into something else.” Shivers! It’s like when your best friend from middle school becomes a goth or a football player when you get to high school, and good little Shmooper that you are, you have to realize that he or she’s not really your friend anymore.

We get two doses of genius here. First, the emotional change. Jean no longer cares about Berenger’s feelings, and no longer connects to Berenger as a friend or even as a fellow man. Then there’s the physical and linguistic change. Does “Brrr” mean he’s chilly, as an African animal in provincial France? No, just that he’s an African animal making some sort of guttural rhino sound. Language flies out the window at this point. He’s becoming an animal, and animals don’t need a mastery of the French language.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Before we chastise Berenger too much for saying something we all got a few minutes earlier, sometimes you have to say something out loud to convince yourself it’s real. “This is the best meal ever,” “That was an amazing goal,” and “Wow, Jon Hamm is handsome,” are just a few examples.

The two supposed best friends can never see eye-to-eye on things. This gives Jean one more chance to show how Berenger is sad and wrong and how he is joyful and right. What a great friend.

Remember how we talked about Berenger’s ability to make everything all about him at times? Dudard finally calls him out for it. “The transformations aren’t about you, buddy!” he seems to say here. Still, maybe it’s that deep, dark egotism that helps Mr. B stay human.

We can always count on Dudard to bring reason to a totally insane situation. People are turning into rhinoceroses left and right, but they’ve clearly thought it all out, yes? If they’ve made decisions that they believe in, we should accept it, too. Kind of creepy, but ties the transformation thing back to free will. Way to go, intersecting themes!