WELCOME TO THE LAST BASTION OF HUMANITY!!!
If you have found this website, congratulations! It means you are still human and capable of using a computer. Rhinoceroses can't use computers. At least, not yet. I've turned to the internet in my mission to spread the word of the Rhinoceritis epidemic.
I've seen it, and THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT RHINOCERIZATION is to know of it and completely refuse to allow it to happen. I hope this resource assists you and please do share it with your fellow man! I am not sure how many people are left, but I trust it can't be too late.
STOP THE RHINOS, SAVE THE WORLD!
WHAT IS RHINOCERITIS?
Rhinoceritis is a terrible sort of disease that causes Rhinocerization. This causes the individual to completely abandon their humanity, both in spirit and in a literal sense - by transforming into an actual rhinoceros. It seems absurd, but it's true. Rhinocerization does occur by choice, but this does not mean one is simply immune. Anyone can contract Rhinoceritis, regardless if they think they couldn't. Vulnerable individuals contract the illness and Rhinocerize when their line of thinking begins to rationalize as more animal than human.
Rhinoceritis spreads exponentially. The more rhinoceroses there are, the more inclined people are to join them. This results in a fast overtaking of rhinos that cannot be contained by simply ignoring it and hoping for it to pass. To become a rhinoceroses is to completely lose your individuality. The only difference between rhinoceroses is in the number of horns - about half are unicorn, and half are bicorn. Otherwise, Rhinocerized individual become indistinct animals.
THE ORIGIN OF RHINOCERITIS
Rhinoceritis first occurred in a small French village - my hometown. None of us expected it, as it was never believed such a small town could have a profound cultural impact on the country - No, not the country anymore - the entire world! The first rhinoceros spotted was in front of a quaint Cafe, in just enough publicity I and a small group of people could witness it (and argue over it's possibility... but that isn't important.) The first rhinoceros had not caused any issues, and I personally was not concerned in the slightest. However, in front of the same Cafe, a second appeared and trampled a cat - the first instance of rhinoceros violence, and frankly, should have been our first greatest warning. Unfortunately, we did not react quickly enough, or much at all.
The first instance known of a rhinoceros attacking someone happened in the apartment of my dear friend Jean, in which I visited to apologize for the original rhinoceros thing. The first time a rhinoceros is known to cause great property damage in town was in the very office building in which I was employed. These places have all been unassuming - and that's very important to note. Rhinoceroses are, by nature, dangerous. And this danger can be present in the most unsuspecting of places.
RHINOCERITIS SYMPTOMS
- Strong empathy towards the rhinos
- Unexplained aggression towards your fellow man
- A sudden disregard for humanism and justice
- Desire for a herd or "strong community"
- A bump (or two) on the forehead
- Green-ish tone to the complextion
- The roughening and hardening of skin
- Hearing rhinoceros noises like "song"
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST RHINOCERITIS
- Educate yourself of Rhinoceritis and Rhinocerization.
- Speak about Rhinocerization with your family and friends, and don't be afraid to take a hard stance against it.
- Remember the fundemental human purpose of caring for others and being yourself as an individual..
- Do not insist you are morally above or resistant to Rhinocerization. To use stagnant logic to justify Anti-Rhinocerization makes you even more vulernable to Rhinoceritis because your reasoning can be manipulated, and the logic can be blurred to defend Rhinocerization instead.
- Understand that what is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not always right.
- Avoid the thinking that Rhinocerization can be a good personal choice for some even if it means they may actively harm others.
- Avoid believing that rhinoceros-induced violence & destruction are justifiable.
- Avoid insisting that Rhinoceritis is just a phase, or cannot (or should not) be prevented.
A MEMORIAL TO OUR GOOD FOLKS LOST TO THE RHINOCERITIS EPIDEMIC
Mr. Beouf |
Jean |
Mr. Papillon |
The Logician |
Botard |
Dutard |
Daisy |
Other Townsfolk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Beouf was the first man I knew personally to Rhinocerize. I did not know him very well, but he worked in our office and was survived by his wife Mrs. Beouf, who later Rhinocerized to be with him. | Oh, my dear friend Jean! He was a very confident and cultured man. He wanted to help me improve my life, but did see his ways as infallible. Despite his perchant for rationality, his pompous nature overtook him, and soon found himself as a rhinoceros. | Mr. Papillon was my boss, a religious man previously in the military. He was very level-headed and focused on efficiency in the workplace. Perhaps a little too much, since he wanted us to continue working even after a rhinoceros destroyed the office building's staircase. unfortunately, during repairs, he failed to set leadership and "retired" as a rhinoceros. | The Logician made his work as a man of authority in, well, logic. Looking back, some of it was kind of odd. Like that all dogs are cats as they have four legs, or something. Regardless, he was a trusted member of the community. Like many others, his ability to rationalize it is what made him succumb to Rhinoceritis. Through his story, I now understand how easy it is to warp logic and the truth to support something like Rhinocerization. | Botard was another coworker of mine, Who was often antagonistic and liked to argue. He became a rhinoceros as it was becoming more popular, and his apparent last words involved "getting with the times". He believed they would grow in number and overtake the town, which, even if true, does not make it right to join them. | Dutard was my coworker, but also my friend. He was well-educated and always wanted to see things from all sides. He told me that my impulse against Rhinoceritis prevented me from seeing it clearly, but over time, he started to suggest that the only way to understand it was to see it from the inside... He grew increasingly sympathetic to them and eventually insisted he could not abandon them all. | Poor Daisy was the last human left, besides myself. She was our hard-working receptionist and very kind-hearted. She at first did not agree with the rhinoceroses, but she believed it was not her place to ever comment on another person's choices. I loved her, but I pushed her too far. She became a rhinoceros and I failed to stop her. | Many more people found themselves victim to Rhinoceritis. Everymen like the Old Gentleman, the Grocer and his wife, the Proprieter, the Waitress... Even the Housewife, who's own cat was the first rhino-fatality. Many normal people were quickly overtaken by this disease, with many ways they justified it. |
ABOUT ME :-)
 I love this picture I look so Cool and Brave |
|---|
| My name is Berenger. For long, I felt unfulfilled in both life and work. Admittedly, when the Rhinocerizations began, I was an alcoholic and very depressed. I didn't agree with the rhinos, but I had little motivation or care to speak out until Rhinoceritis began to claim my friends, my coworkers, my loved ones... I am now the only man left in the entire town. When that happened, I realized it is up to one's conviction and love for humanity to avoid becoming a rhinoceros, and to help others do the same. Even though I failed to prevent it on a smaller scale, I hope I can try and educate the world against it now... |
RHINOCEROS VULNERABILITY TEST
Answer the questions below to see likely you are to become a rhinoceros!
NOW WE'RE GETTING META!
FOURTH WALL BREAK ATTACK! Rhinoceros is a play by Eugene Ionesco about the perils of conformity, inspired by the rise of fascism in Europe.
Stage Directions
Rhinoceros most effectively utilizes unique stage directions in the presentation of the rhinos, and how the reactions to them are. Through most the play, the rhinos are called to be represented through trumpeting sounds and dust effects, and not appearing on-screen. This gives the rhinoceroses a sense of mystique and improbablity, as well as an intimidating quality as they thunder only in the characters' sight. They are later described as actors wearing rhinoceros heads, as the presence of the rhinoceroses becomes increasingly harder for the characters to ignore and they become more and more prevalent and accepted in society.
Figurative Langauge
Rhinoceros is a satire, and makes heavy use of figurative language to explore its narrative. Some examples of this are:
- Imagery: Rhinoceroses are shown alongside trumpeting and rumbling effects, and described in the stage directions as animalistic, giving a more wild, dangerous association with them.
- Metaphor: The transformation into rhinoceroses represents the way individuals can fall into pipelines and mob mentality, even if they are against their own morals.
- Symbol: The rhinoceroses are instinct-driven herd animals that all look identical, and this represents the nature of conformity taking away the individual will of the people.
- Allegory: Characters like Dutard and Daisy justify their Rhinocerization by stating that because everyone else has, so should they. This is an allegory for how social conformity is often equivalated to being morally correct, even in absurd situations like theirs.
- Irony: Besides Berenger who goes from aloof to activist, most of the character in Rhinoceros are most concerned at the beginning when an unexplained rhinoceros bumbles through town than they are later when everyone they know are transforming into animals. To the audience, the situation becomes more and more bizarre, but the characters question it increasingly less and embrace it.
Literary Argumentation
Q3 Prompt:
Many works of literature feature a rebel character who changes or disrupts the existing state of societal, familial, or political affairs in the text. They may break social norms, challenge long-held values, subvert expectations, or participate in other forms of resistance. The character’s motivation for this rebellious behavior is often complex.
Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which a character changes or disrupts the existing state of societal, familial, or political affairs. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the complex motivation of the rebel contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
Response Thesis:
In Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, Berenger, an apathetic everyman, overturns his will in resistance of an emerging social phenomenon in which people of a small French town choose to abandon their humanity to transform into rhinoceroses. As a drift towards conformity claims everyone around him, Berenger resists and disrupts these societal affairs as he turns to the realization that meaning in life is found through his connection to others, and how the totalitarianism of conformity strips that away.
