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71979

From Existentialism to Nihilism As Represented in Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

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Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Rajiv Joseph is a contemporary American playwright. His play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was premiered in May 2009 at Kirk Douglas Theatre, California. The play sheds light on looting crimes committed by American soldiers in Baghdad 2003 after American invasion of Iraq. It puts into focus an important period in American literature which focuses on the aftermath of 9/11 events and the war on terrorism. It examines human beings' perception of the world and others during hard times. The aim of this paper is to analyze Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo in the light of Jean Paul Sartre's existential concepts, focusing on characters' eventual nihilist attitude, giving up morals and values. The play tries to put into focus war bewilderment which encourages the characters to search for salvation in an absurd world, drawing attention to the effect of the war on Iraqis and American soldiers' lives, and suggesting that human world is as cruel as animal world.

DOI

10.21608/herms.2018.71979

Keywords

existentialism, nihilism, Baghdad, ghosts, Identity, dilemma

Authors

First Name

Randa

Last Name

Misbah

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Assistant Professor of English language in the department of Basic Science Faculty of Engineering- Delta University

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Volume

7

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

10943

Issue Date

2018-04-01

Receive Date

2020-02-18

Publish Date

2018-04-01

Page Start

109

Page End

137

Print ISSN

2090-8555

Online ISSN

2974-4695

Link

https://hermes.journals.ekb.eg/article_71979.html

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https://hermes.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=71979

Order

9

Type

المقالة الأصلية

Type Code

1,100

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

هرمس

Publication Link

https://hermes.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

From Existentialism to Nihilism As Represented in Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023