![]() ![]() Jerry explains that he tries to befriend animals as a gateway to befriending other people. ![]() Peter finds this story extremely disturbing, and wonders why Jerry told it to him. Although this sickened the dog, it eventually recovered and began to simply leave him alone. After repeated and repudiated attempts at friendship, Jerry decided to murder the dog by feeding it a poisoned hamburger patty. When she got a dog, Jerry tried to befriend it, but the dog responded only by attacking him. Jerry promises to tell Peter about his trip to the zoo, but is sidetracked into telling Peter about his landlady, a drunken woman who constantly propositions him. His parents died when he was young, and his only significant romantic relationship was a short liaison he had with another boy when he was a teenager. When Peter asks him about the picture frames, Jerry explains that he is completely alone in life. He describes his unsavory neighbors and the junk that comprises his possessions – including two empty picture frames. When Peter finally begins to return Jerry’s questions, Jerry tells him about his miserable apartment in a flophouse on the Upper West Side. Jerry continues to ask Peter questions about his life, his job, and his interests. Jerry’s forward personality quickly begins to annoy Peter – he points out that Peter will likely get cancer from smoking, and implies that Peter is emasculated because he has cats instead of dogs. Despite Peter’s apparent reluctance to chat, Jerry strikes up a conversation. Jerry, a sloppily dressed transient in his late thirties, approaches and announces that he is coming from the Central Park Zoo. One Sunday afternoon, Peter, an upper-middle-class family man and publishing executive in his mid-forties, is reading a book on a bench. The entire play is set on a park bench in Central Park.
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