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Dudard
A man who makes his living as a logician. He visits the café with his friend the Old Gentleman at the same time as Berenger and Jean are there. The Logician wears a distinctive boater hat and is well dressed in general. He teaches the Old Gentleman about syllogisms and uses a syllogism to prove that the Old Gentleman’s dog is actually a cat, simply because it has four paws. Through this, the Logician demonstrates how easy it is to warp logic, especially when one is an authority figure like he is. Later, he demonstrates how logic can be used to deflect attention away from the atrocities that the rhinoceroses (a metaphor for fascist movements) are committing by leading the other characters in a lesson to construct what he insists is the correct question: what kind of rhinoceros(es) they saw, and how many horns they had. He makes it clear that while this is supposedly the correct question, it purposefully misses the point—that is, if people will put up with rhinoceroses running over their pets. The Logician later succumbs and turns into a rhinoceros, though he maintains some semblance of his individuality by wearing his boater hat impaled on his horn.
The Logician Quotes in Rhinoceros
The Rhinoceros quotes below are all either spoken by The Logician or refer to The Logician. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 1
Quotes
Logician: Here is an example of a syllogism. A cat has four paws. Isidore and Fricot both have four paws. Therefore Isidore and Fricot are both cats.
Old Gentleman: My dog has got four paws.
Logician: Then it’s a cat.
[…]
Old Gentleman: […] Logic is a very beautiful thing.
Logician: As long as it is not abused.
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Logician: That would be unjust, and therefore not logical.
[…]
Old Gentleman: […] Not logical?
[…]
Logician: […] Because Logic means Justice.
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Old Gentleman: What can you do, dear lady—cats are only mortal.
Logician: What do you expect, madam? All cats are mortal. One must accept that.
Housewife: (Lamenting.) My little cat, my poor little cat.
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Grocer: —it may be logical, but are we going to stand for our cats being run down under our very eyes by one-horned rhinoceroses or two, whether they’re Asiatic or African?
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Act 2
Quotes
Jean: I tell you it’s not as bad as all that. […] After all, rhinoceroses are living creatures the same as us; they’ve got as much right to life as we have.
Berenger: As long as they don’t destroy ours in the process. You must admit the difference in mentality.
Jean: […] Are you under the impression— […] that our way of life is superior?
Berenger: Well, at any rate, we have our own moral standards which I consider incompatible with the standards of these animals.
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Act 3
Quotes
Dudard: If he was a genuine thinker, as you say, he couldn’t have got carried away. He must have weighed all the pros and cons before deciding.
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The Logician Quotes in Rhinoceros
The Rhinoceros quotes below are all either spoken by The Logician or refer to The Logician. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 1
Quotes
Logician: Here is an example of a syllogism. A cat has four paws. Isidore and Fricot both have four paws. Therefore Isidore and Fricot are both cats.
Old Gentleman: My dog has got four paws.
Logician: Then it’s a cat.
[…]
Old Gentleman: […] Logic is a very beautiful thing.
Logician: As long as it is not abused.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Logician: That would be unjust, and therefore not logical.
[…]
Old Gentleman: […] Not logical?
[…]
Logician: […] Because Logic means Justice.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Old Gentleman: What can you do, dear lady—cats are only mortal.
Logician: What do you expect, madam? All cats are mortal. One must accept that.
Housewife: (Lamenting.) My little cat, my poor little cat.
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Grocer: —it may be logical, but are we going to stand for our cats being run down under our very eyes by one-horned rhinoceroses or two, whether they’re Asiatic or African?
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Act 2
Quotes
Jean: I tell you it’s not as bad as all that. […] After all, rhinoceroses are living creatures the same as us; they’ve got as much right to life as we have.
Berenger: As long as they don’t destroy ours in the process. You must admit the difference in mentality.
Jean: […] Are you under the impression— […] that our way of life is superior?
Berenger: Well, at any rate, we have our own moral standards which I consider incompatible with the standards of these animals.
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Act 3
Quotes
Dudard: If he was a genuine thinker, as you say, he couldn’t have got carried away. He must have weighed all the pros and cons before deciding.
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