Daisy can afford her lover only a fleeting glimpse of heaven. He represents humanity among the animals. Though he has a great desire to be like other people, he is incapable of conforming. Berenger is a petit bourgeois without ambition and without any special talent. What they have in common is the herd instinct. Botard is a Communist, Dudard an opportunist, Jean a conformist, Papillion a bureaucrat, and Daisy simply a nice girl. The others change with the times, following the current fashion, each for his own ends. He has slovenly habits, and gives no signs of unusual intelligence. Ionesco says, "Originally rhinoceritis was Nazism". The play ends on a heroic note but the implication is that there is not much hope for a human being in a world of beasts. Le Rhinoceros is the only play by Ionesco that makes an unequivocal statement.
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