In Jerry and Peter's language, we can clearly see such a social phenomenon: the essence of living people disappears, only leaving the inpidual possessions. It seems as if man's soul and self are relegated to the second, and material has become the master (楚合江2011). It is also reflected in the fight for the bench. Peter doesn't want to be pushed off because he is unwilling to give up things that he has appropriated to himself. Naqibun　and　Firoz　(2016) elucidate that “Peter’s violent self-defense for his materialistic possession (the bench) seems very natural because the relationship that has been reduced to power struggle also demands conscious sharing, sacrificing and communication with others who are more in need of those. However, the American capitalistic society denies this sharing and sacrificing only to confirm the constant demand of materials and belongings in modern socio-cultural life.”

1.2.2 Failure of communication and loneliness

In the middle of the twentieth century, modernization of capitalist production brought unprecedented prosperity to American people. In the infinite pursuit of the material and the extreme worship of money, people become more and more indifferent and isolated. While people are alienated by material, the human relation is alienated simultaneously (路静2011).

Jerry is the embodiment of the lonely and desperate Western modern people, and his destiny is the fate of every modern person. There are millions of people in New York, but he can't find anyone to talk with. As he says, “I don't talk to many people – except to say like: give me a beer, or where’s the john, or what time does the feature go on, or keep your hands to yourself, buddy. You know – things like that…But every once in a while I like to talk to somebody, really talk; like to get to know somebody, know all about him.” (p. 17) Jerry is the victim of modern urban civilization. The obstacles he encounters in communicating with others are not his personal problems, but a pervasive phenomenon in modern society and a manifestation of the alienation of modern industrial civilization. Zimbardo (1962) points out that “Once engaged in conversation, Peter tries to avoid talking about any subject that has real relevance, anything that has roots penetrating the carefully prepared mask which he presents to the world, and even to himself. When Jerry tries to establish some real contact, he withdraws from the conversation, furious that Jerry might have spotted a chink in his armor.” 

In modern Western society, due to fierce competition, people build a fence around to close them up. As Albee says (1961), everyone is separated by bars, becoming animals in cages in the zoo that cannot get close and talk to each other. Therefore, Naqibun　and　Firoz　(2016) confirm “Jerry’s open, self-disclosing statements about his sexual preferences, his anti-socio-cultural behavior towards both animal and human being, and his anti-capitalistic existence, all are meant to break the compartments created by society and culture, to reach modern Americanized souls like Peter.”