Marriage, Family, and Community Theme Analysis

“A Gorilla in the Guest-room” is fundamentally a story about community. Durrell shows how similarly humans and apes behave as he explores the relationship he and his fellow zookeepers have with the gorillas N’Pongo and Nandy. The story’s narrator doesn’t see the zoo as a place where animals are kept for entertainment, but rather as a place where they can find the companionship they need to thrive. Indeed, when Durrell first picks up the baby gorilla, and N’Pongo’s cage isn’t ready, he actually brings him to live in his house as a “guest.” The way Durrell talks about his relationship with N’Pongo makes it seem as though they are largely the same but simply have different customs. The gorillas’ preferences and individual quirks quickly take over life at the zoo. Durrell describes how, at one point, all the conversation between the humans centers on the gorillas’ digestion.

N’Pongo quickly makes everybody at the zoo fall in love with him. He has a distinct personality and feelings, and he develops real relationships with Durrell and his own family. Durrell’s mother even initially wants to keep him in the house. Just like people, Durrell also describes the gorillas as having remembered histories and trouble with others due to past events. When Nandy first arrives, she has clearly been hurt by her previous captors and is terrified of humans. The keepers take this seriously, making it a priority to rehabilitate her, as well as to facilitate the “marriage” between her and N’Pongo. Their relationship is treated with respect and forbearance, rather than as a forced mating between two endangered beasts. Durrell actually uses the same language to discuss his own marriage with Jacquie as he does the “marriage” between Nandy and N’Pongo, furthering this parallel. Through this theme, Durrell makes two things clear. Firstly, sentient beings thrive best when they’re able to make and sustain meaningful relationships. Secondly, gorillas are able to feel and form relationships that have comparable levels of commitment, friendship, and love to those created by their human counterparts.