In “Red Peter’s Little Lady,” Herr Hagenbeck owns a “zoo without bars” in Hamburg, Germany. His goal is to give people the opportunity to interact with animals on a personal level, and he’s the one to come up with the idea to train Peter and Hazel to be human. Though Peter doesn’t admit it until Hagenbeck flees World War I for Africa, he hates Hagenbeck—he is cruel and doesn’t care about anything but showing his dominance over his zoo animals and test subjects.
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Herr Hagenbeck Character Timeline in Only the Animals
The timeline below shows where the character Herr Hagenbeck appears in Only the Animals. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Red Peter’s Little Lady: Soul of Chimpanzee (Died 1917, Germany)
...acknowledges that she asked him not to write—but there’s a war going on, and Herr Hagenbeck told Peter to write to Hazel by first writing to Evelyn. He’s heard that Hazel...
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...him happy to abstain while others indulge. Peter asks Hazel to think of how Herr Hagenbeck decided to create a zoo without bars. Now, Hazel must mentally put the bars back...
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...next letter to Evelyn, Peter apologizes for his acquaintances’ behavior. He insists that Hazel was Hagenbeck’s idea. Peter has been forced to go along with it for the sake of Hagenbeck’s...
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...He came to Prague on a ship and appeared onstage with his namesake Peter. Herr Hagenbeck bought him there and then hired Oberndorff to train Peter in Hamburg. Peter then spent...
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...Peter’s wife. There’s also the fact that Hazel will bring Peter “comfort” as his wife. Hagenbeck didn’t think Peter should take a human wife, and the “primitive” chimps at the zoo...
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...have been going out in public together. Hazel now walks upright and wears shoes, and Hagenbeck feels that Hazel will be ready sooner than expected. She asks if Peter remembers when...
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...in his letter to her. He’s worried about Evelyn and the children and asks if Hagenbeck is helping her find food on the black market. He’d send supplies, but he’s having...
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...stole some food and they celebrated their meal enthusiastically—and of course, they shared with Hazel. Hagenbeck hasn’t been helping and hasn’t been to the zoo in a while. He might be...
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...know if she and the children are alright, and she doesn’t need to worry about Hagenbeck finding out. Hagenbeck fled to Africa. Peter supposes it makes sense; Hagenbeck is selfish, and...
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Evelyn, in her response, thanks Peter for the potatoes he sent. She confirms that Hagenbeck went to Africa and transcribes Hagenbeck’s final letter to her. In it, he wrote that...
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