Yank’s Quest of Identity in Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape

At the dawn of the Twentieth Century, changes were rapidly taking place in our society. The word ‘Modern’ was, during this time, flying everywhere in the wind. Amidst all this, some people were in search of their own identity, as well. Societies across the globe were changing, and everyone was gaining consciousness about his/her identity, his or her place in society, we need an identity to survive in this world of ours. It’s very hard to imagine ourselves without an identity; our quest for identity commences as soon as we arrive in this world and lasts till the graveyard. Identity is a must for everyone in this world of ours; therefore, in literature too, the characters were haunted with their own identity, their sense of belonging. The aim of the researcher and this paper is to point out the importance of identity for the character as well as a writer and why identity is so must for us if we want t to survive in this world.