The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'neill

The central character of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape is Yank, a fireman (someone who stokes the coal furnace of transatlantic ships). He is brutish and opinionated. Yank is leader of the firemen and the play opens with him hanging out with his coworkers in the forecastle of the ship. Though he is able to command their attention easily, they don't hesitate to make fun of how he speaks. Yank mocks a fellow fireman when the fireman stands up to make a speech about how they are in a hell created by the upper class.
He leaves the ship and wanders into Manhattan, only to find he does not belong anywhere—neither with the socialites on Fifth Avenue, nor with the labor organizers on the waterfront. Finally he is reduced to seeking a kindred being with the gorilla in the zoo and dies in the animal's embrace.
The Hairy Ape displays oppression of the industrial working class. Despite demonstrating in The Hairy Ape O'Neill's clear belief that the capitalist system persecutes the working man, he is critical of a socialist movement that can't fulfill individual needs or solve unique problems.The industrial environment is presented as toxic and dehumanizing; the world of the rich, superficial and manipulative. Yank has also been interpreted as representative of the human condition, alienated from nature by his isolated consciousness, unable to find belonging in any social group or 
 environment.This is a result from the industrialization of both the ship and New York.
Many critics often argued over O’Neill’s conception of race in The Hairy Ape. Yank, who often worked with coal, is said to have “blackface” through the play.^[4] This interpretation of “blackface” has led to a debate about Yank’s race. The coal combined with an unshaven face has covered the whiteness of his face, discarding his nationality. These characteristics combined contribute to his physical and psychological downfall throughout the novel. His emotional detriment reflects his physical deterioration as well, where finally at the end of the play he has taken on animalistic qualities. In the last scene, Yank tries to explain to the ape that they are the same; his efforts to show their similar qualities end in Yank’s death. O’Neill’s portrayal of both Yank and the ape is a way to “mock the comparison of individuals of African heritage.” Yank’s defeat by the ape is degenerating to his mental state as well as his race and social class.