Aston

When he was younger he was given electric shock therapy that leaves him permanently brain
damaged. His efforts to appease the ever-complaining Davies may be seen as an attempt to reach
out to others. He desperately seeks a connection in the wrong place and with the wrong people.
His main obstacle is his inability to communicate. He is misunderstood by his closest relative,
his brother, and thus is completely isolated in his existence. His good-natured attitude makes him
vulnerable to exploitation. His dialogue is sparse and often a direct response to something Mick
or Davies has said. Aston has dreams of building a shed. The shed to him may represent all the
things his life lacks: accomplishment and structure. The shed represents hope for the future.
Davies
Davies manufactures the story of his life, lying or sidestepping some details to avoid telling the
whole truth about himself. A non-sequitur. He adjusts aspects of the story of his life according to
the people he is trying to impress, influence, or manipulate. As Billington points out, “When
Mick suggests that Davies might have been in the services — and even the colonies, Davies
retorts: ‘I was over there. I was one of the first over there.’ He defines himself according to
momentary imperatives and other people’s suggestions” (122).Davies is an itinerant and a tramp.
After a fight at his cafe job, he is brought by Aston to the room where he is offered the caretaker
position by both Aston and Mick. Davies is loud, confident, arrogant, and full of himself. He has
a martyr complex, believing that everyone else, particularly other races, is out to get him. His
identity is questionable, as his papers have been at Sidcup for a long time. He eventually
alienates Aston with his irritability, laziness, and mean-spiritedness, and is forced out of the
room.
Mick
Mick is in his late 20s and is the owner of the home though he lives elsewhere. Mick is
unpredictable. At times he is quite caring, but at other times he is somewhat aggressive. He is
suspicious of Davies from the beginning and interrogates him extensively. While sometimes
frustrated with his brother’s lack of work ethic, he is protective of him and loyal to him.
At times violent and ill-tempered, Mick is ambitious. He talks above Davies’ ability to
comprehend him. His increasing dissatisfaction with Davies leads to a rapprochement with his
brother, Aston; though he appears to have distanced himself from Aston prior to the opening of
the play, by the end, they exchange a few words and a faint smile. Early in the play, when he first
encounters him, Mick attacks Davies, taking him for an intruder in his brother Aston’s abode: an
attic room of a run-down house which Mick looks after and in which he enables his brother to
live. At first, he is aggressive toward Davies. Later, it may be that by suggesting that Davies
could be “caretaker” of both his house and his brother, Mick is attempting to shift responsibility
from himself onto Davies, who hardly seems a viable candidate for such tasks. The disparities
between the loftiness of Mick’s “dreams” and needs for immediate results and the mundane
realities of Davies’s neediness and shifty non-committal nature creates much of the absurdity of
the play.
Summary
The play takes place in one room of a house in West London during the 1950s. It is winter. The
play begins with Mick sitting on a bed in the room, but when he hears a door open and shut
somewhere offstage, he leaves. Aston, his brother, and Davies, an old tramp, enter. Aston has
helped Davies in a fight at the cafe where he was working an odd job. Aston offers Davies
clothes, shoes, and a place to stay the night. Davies is loud and opinionated, complaining about
the “blacks” and people of other races. Aston, by contrast, is reserved, shy, and speaks haltingly.
Davies accepts Aston’s offer, and says he will have to go down to Sidcup to get his papers, which
will confirm who he is.

The next morning Aston tells Davies that he was being loud in his sleep, a statement that Davies
strenuously rejects. Aston prepares to go out, and tells Davies he can stay there. The tramp says
he will try to find a job. After Aston is gone, Mick enters and engages Davies in a silent tussle.
He asks Davies what his game is.

Mick asks Davies strange questions and discourses on random topics, discombobulating the
older man. He finally says that Davies can rent the room if he wants. Aston returns with a bag of
Davies’s belongings. Mick leaves. The bag turns out not to be Davies’, and he is annoyed. Aston
asks Davies if he wants to be the caretaker of the place; he, in turn, is supposed to be decorating
the landing and turning it into a real flat for his brother. Davies is wary at first because the job
might entail real work, but he agrees.
Later Davies is in the room and Mick uses the vacuum cleaner in the dark to frighten Davies.
Adopting a more casual manner, he asks Davies if he wants to be caretaker. Davies asks who
really is in charge of the place, and Mick deceives him. He asks Davies for references, and
Davies promises to go to Sidcup to get them.

The next morning Davies prolongs his decision to go out, blaming bad weather. Aston tells him
about how he used to hallucinate and was placed in a mental facility and given electroshock
treatment against his will. His thoughts are slower now, and he wishes he could find the man
who put the pincers to his head. All he wants to do, though, is build the shed in the garden.

Two weeks later, Davies is full of complaints about Aston, delivering them to Mick. One night
Aston wakes Davies to make him stop making noise in his sleep, and Davies explodes, mocking
him for his shock treatment. Aston quietly says he is not working out and ought to leave. Davies
curses him and says he will talk to Mick about it.

Davies speaks with Mick and argues that Aston should be evicted. Mick pretends to agree with
him for a bit, and then starts to ask Davies about his claim that he is an expert interior decorator.
Befuddled at this claim he did not make, Davies tries to correct Mick. At one point he calls Aston
nutty, which causes Mick to order him to leave. He gives Davies money to pay him out for his
services.
Aston enters, and both brothers are faintly smiling. Mick leaves, and Davies tries to plead with
Aston again. He grows more and more desperate, wheedling and promising to be better. All
Aston says is that Davies makes too much noise. The curtain descends on Davies’ protestations.

Mick sits alone in a room filled with all kinds of clutter, including various kitchen appliances,
two beds, and a Buddha statue, among other things. A bucket hangs from the ceiling to catch the
water leaking out of a crack. Mick hears voices approaching from outside and quickly leaves the
room. After Mick leaves, Mick’s brother Aston enters the room, accompanied by Davies, an old,
disheveled drifter. Davies inspects the room and complains about the foreigners at the café where
he worked until this evening, when he was fired for fighting with a coworker. It was Aston who
interfered in the brawl and who later decided to bring Davies home with him. As Davies
complains, Aston tinkers with some tools.

Aston offers to let Davies spend the night in his home. Davies accepts the offer, though he
immediately complains about the room’s cluttered state, the draught, and “them Blacks” who
also live in the building. He also asks Aston for a pair of shoes, which he claims to need to return
to Sidcup to retrieve his identifying papers and other important documents. Aston explains that
he’s been going by a false name, Bernard Jenkins, and that he needs to retrieve his papers so that
people don’t uncover his lies. Aston brings Davies a pair of shoes, though Davies immediately
complains about them being too small. When Aston asks about Davies’s future plans, Davies
gives no definite answer. Davies then asks about the Buddha statue. Aston says something vague
about liking how the statue looks.
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The Caretaker Summary
Mick sits alone in a room filled with all kinds of clutter, including various kitchen appliances,
two beds, and a Buddha statue, among other things. A bucket hangs from the ceiling to catch the
water leaking out of a crack. Mick hears voices approaching from outside and quickly leaves the
room. After Mick leaves, Mick’s brother Aston enters the room, accompanied by Davies, an old,
disheveled drifter. Davies inspects the room and complains about the foreigners at the café where
he worked until this evening, when he was fired for fighting with a coworker. It was Aston who
interfered in the brawl and who later decided to bring Davies home with him. As Davies
complains, Aston tinkers with some tools.
2 summary
Aston offers to let Davies spend the night in his home. Davies accepts the offer, though he
immediately complains about the room’s cluttered state, the draught, and “them Blacks” who
also live in the building. He also asks Aston for a pair of shoes, which he claims to need to return
to Sidcup to retrieve his identifying papers and other important documents. Aston explains that
he’s been going by a false name, Bernard Jenkins, and that he needs to retrieve his papers so that
people don’t uncover his lies. Aston brings Davies a pair of shoes, though Davies immediately
complains about them being too small. When Aston asks about Davies’s future plans, Davies
gives no definite answer. Davies then asks about the Buddha statue. Aston says something vague
about liking how the statue looks.
The next morning, Aston tells Davies he was making noise in his sleep. Davies denies this and
accuses “them Blacks” of causing the commotion. Aston leaves to meet a man about buying a
tool.
After Aston leaves, Davies roots around in Aston’s stuff looking for things to steal. Distracted,
Davies doesn’t notice when Mick silently enters the room. Mick assumes Davies is an intruder
and attacks him. Davies eventually fends off Mick, and the men talk a bit, though Davies refuses
to tell Mick much about his background, introducing himself by his false name, Barry Jenkins.
The conversation ultimately goes nowhere, and Mick again accuses Davies of being a thief.
Aston returns and tries to diffuse the tension. Mick leaves, and Aston explains that he’s supposed
to be fixing up the place for Mick. He also talks about wanting to build a shed out back. Once
Aston is finished daydreaming, he asks Davies if he’d like to be the caretaker. Davies is hesitant,
apparently not too keen on the idea of a job that would require him to do too much work.
Sometime later, Davies enters the dark and seemingly unoccupied room, only to find that the
light switch won’t work. Mick, who has unscrewed the lightbulb and who is hiding in the
darkness, frightens Davies with a vacuum cleaner. Davies demands to know why Mick won’t
stop messing with him. Mick offers half his sandwich as a peace offering, which Davies
reluctantly accepts. They talk about Aston, and Davies admits that he can’t quite figure him out.
Mick sympathizes with Davies, explaining that he has grown frustrated with Aston’s apparent
unwillingness to work, though he suddenly changes his tune and angrily accuses Davies of being
overly critical of Aston. Mick then changes course once more, flattering Davies and inviting him
to be the caretaker, an offer that Davies accepts. Mick asks for Davies’s references. Davies says
his documents and references are in Sidcup and that he’ll retrieve them as soon as the weather
improves and he can get some proper shoes.
The next morning, Aston again complains about Davies making noise in his sleep. In response,
Davies complains about the open window making the room draughty at night. The men argue
back and forth. Aston announces that he’s going to go out today to ask about buying a bench.
Davies announces that he’ll go to Sidcup today, though he ultimately changes his mind.
Aston gives a long speech about being involuntarily committed to an asylum and given
electroshock treatment for hallucinations when he was a young man, and how this treatment
makes it hard for him to think and to communicate with others.
Two weeks later, Mick and Davies are in the room alone. Davies tells Mick that he and Aston
have hardly spoken since Aston told him about being committed. He complains about how hard
it is to talk to Aston, speculating that he and Mick get along better and could actually get stuff
done. Mick agrees and entertains the idea of fixing up the place with Davies, though he remains
adamant that it will be he and Aston who will live in the finished home—not Davies. Davies
starts ragging on Aston. Mick doesn’t say much and gets up to leave.
Aston enters the room and hands Davies some shoes. Davies complains about the shoes while
making tentative plans to return to Sidcup. Aston exits the room without Davies noticing, which
greatly annoys Davies.
Later that night, Davies starts making noises in his sleep. Aston orders him to be quiet. In
retaliation, Davies ridicules Aston for his mental illness and prior institutionalization, threatening
that Mick can have him recommitted. Aston tells Davies to leave. Davies puts his knife to
Aston’s throat, but Aston calmly repeats his order, backs away from Davies, and silently places
Davies’s things near the door. Davies leaves the room while Aston fiddles with a plug.
Later on, Davies complains to Mick about Aston’s behavior, but Mick stands up for his brother.
Davies refuses to back down, suggesting that Mick should send Aston back to the asylum. Mick
is still mad but changes the subject, mentioning something about Davies being an accomplished
interior decorator, though Davies insists he never purported to be one. Mick demands to know
Davies’s real name. Still caught off guard by Mick’s assumption, Davies suggests that it was the
“nutty” Aston who told him about Davies being an interior decorator, which makes Mick even
more upset. Mick tells Davies to leave. He then throws the Buddha statue to the ground,
shattering it.
Aston enters, and he and Mick exchange a silent smile as Mick leaves the room. Aston notes the
smashed Buddha statue. Davies makes a grand speech about how kind Aston has been to him,
offering to help Aston complete the woodshed. But Davies’s pleas do little to convince Aston,
who turns his back to the old man as Davies slowly makes his way toward the door.
Themes Race and National Origin
Pinter’s characters live in a time and place when race and national origin matter: after WWII and
the end of the imperial age, borders became porous, and citizens of Southeast Asia, India, and
Africa made their way to European countries to settle. The result was, unsurprisingly, suspicion
and prejudice. Race and national origin were of central importance in order to determine who
deserved what from society and the government. Davies manifests the contemporary obsession
with the hierarchy of race, denigrating “Poles, Greeks, Blacks, the lot of them, all them aliens,”
(6) while asserting his own rights. Aston and Mick are not racist like Davies, but still query him
about his birthplace and, in Mick’s case, tell stories about people’s identifying factors like where
they live and travel to. Overall, the play evinces the unease of racial tensions in 1950s London.
Family
Family relationships are significant in the play, but are depicted in a myriad of ways. Family can
sometimes be detrimental, and representative of the larger absurdity and meaningless of life -
Aston’s mother allows her son to be given the electroshock treatment, and Davies’ family is
absent (whether or not it was he who rejected his wife or he is leaving part of the story out, he is
still completely alone). Family can also be a burden, as Mick understands because he has to put
up with his brother’s slowness and ineptitude. However, the largely silent relationship between
Mick and Aston is the closest the play comes to offering meaning and purpose. Mick and Aston
care for each other; Mick sees them living in the house together, and is (mostly) indulgent of
Aston’s behavior. He resents Davies but does not want to hurt or annoy his brother, so he uses
subtler means to oust the tramp. By the end of the play the slight smile exchanged between the
brothers indicates that they fully understand and appreciate each other; it is a small gesture but
one pregnant with meaning.

Identity
Mick, Aston, and Davies are certainly memorable characters, but they do not possess fully-
fledged identities. In fact, Pinter suggests that modern life so beats down a person that they are
unable to maintain a sense of self. Aston was rendered pliable and meek due to electroshock
treatment, and Davies has two names and goes without his identifying papers. He does not
remember where he was born, and seems almost afraid to pursue answers to these questions, as if
he were afraid to find out he really has no identity. Mick tries desperately to live out his
ambitions, but is pulled in different directions by the claims on his attention. The characters are
defined more in terms of their relationships to different objects rather than their actual
characteristics or motivations: Davies is obsessed with shoes and his knife, Aston has his Buddha
and the broken plug, and the brothers closely heed the bucket. Pinter reveals very little of their
history or anything else about them, which is intended to call attention to their lack of fixed,
unified identities.
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, born on October 10, 1930, in Hackney, East London, was a renowned British
playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is best known for his unique style of writing,
characterized by sparse dialogue, pauses, and an underlying sense of menace, often referred to as
“Pinteresque.” Over his prolific career, Pinter crafted numerous plays, including “The Birthday
Party,” “The Caretaker,” and “The Homecoming,” which have left a lasting impact on modern
theater. His works delve into the complexities of human relationships, power dynamics, and the
existential struggles of individuals. In addition to his contributions to literature and theater, Pinter
was an outspoken political activist and critic. His outstanding contributions to drama were
recognized with numerous awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005. Pinter’s
legacy endures through his influential body of work, which continues to be studied and
performed worldwide.
Themes
Harold Pinter’s works are renowned for exploring several recurring themes that delve into the
complexities of human experience and relationships. Some of the major themes include:

1. **Power and Domination**: Pinter often examines the dynamics of power within
relationships, whether personal, social, or political. His characters frequently engage in
psychological battles for control, showcasing the subtle and overt ways people dominate
and manipulate each other.

2. **Communication and Silence**: Pinter’s dialogue is famous for its pauses and silences,
which often convey more than the spoken words. This theme highlights the limitations of
language, the ambiguities in communication, and how silence can be as powerful as
speech.

3. **Memory and the Past**: Many of Pinter’s plays explore the fluidity and subjectivity of
memory. Characters often have conflicting recollections of past events, suggesting that
memory is unreliable and can be manipulated.
 4. **Isolation and Alienation**: Pinter frequently portrays characters who are isolated or
alienated from others, either physically or emotionally. This theme underscores the
loneliness and disconnection that can pervade human existence.

5. **Threat and Menace**: An underlying sense of threat or menace is a hallmark of

Pinter’s work. This often manifests in a pervasive atmosphere of unease and tension,
where the source of danger is ambiguous or unseen.

6. **Identity and Reality**: Pinter’s characters often grapple with questions of identity and
the nature of reality. His plays challenge audiences to consider the elusive and
constructed nature of self and truth.

7. **Existential Angst**: Reflecting existentialist concerns, Pinter’s works frequently depict

characters facing the absurdity and unpredictability of life. This theme explores the
anxiety and uncertainty inherent in the human condition.

These themes collectively contribute to the distinctive “Pinteresque” quality of his plays, marked
by their psychological depth, complexity, and ambiguity.
Writing style
Harold Pinter’s writing style is renowned for its distinct characteristics and innovative
approaches, which contributed to his significant impact on modern theater. Key elements of
Pinter’s style include:

1. **Pinteresque Dialogue**: Pinter’s dialogue often features everyday language but is

marked by its pauses, silences, and seemingly trivial exchanges that carry underlying
tension and meaning. These “Pinter pauses” are a trademark of his work, creating an
atmosphere of ambiguity and unease.

2. **Ambiguity and Uncertainty**: His plays often leave many questions unanswered,
creating a sense of mystery and tension. The motivations of characters and the specifics
 of their backgrounds or relationships are frequently left unclear, forcing the audience to
engage actively with the material.

3. **Power Dynamics**: Pinter’s works commonly explore themes of power and control.
Relationships in his plays often involve manipulation, dominance, and submission,
reflecting broader social and political structures.

4. **Menace and the Absurd**: There’s a pervasive sense of threat and absurdity in Pinter’s
plays. Ordinary settings and conversations can turn ominous, reflecting the absurdities
and dangers of real-life social interactions.

5. **Economy of Language**: Pinter’s dialogue is often concise and economical, with a

focus on what is not said as much as what is spoken. This economy creates layers of
meaning and subtext, inviting various interpretations.

6. **Realism and Surrealism**: While his settings and characters are often realistic, the
situations they find themselves in can be surreal or bizarre, blurring the line between the
real and the surreal.

Examples of these elements can be seen in his most famous works, such as “The Birthday Party,”
“The Caretaker,” and “The Homecoming.” Each of these plays utilizes his unique style to create
a distinct and often unsettling theatrical. Famous works
Harold Pinter’s body of work includes numerous influential plays, screenplays, and prose. Here
are some of his most famous works:

### Plays
1. **”The Birthday Party” (1957)**: One of Pinter’s early major works, this play is a
classic example of his style, blending realism with elements of the absurd and menacing.
 2. **”The Caretaker” (1959)**: This play brought Pinter significant acclaim. It explores
themes of power and identity through the interactions between three characters in a single
room.

3. **”The Homecoming” (1964)**: Known for its dark comedy and ambiguous narrative,
this play focuses on the return of a son to his dysfunctional family.

4. **”The Dumb Waiter” (1957)**: A one-act play that exemplifies Pinter’s use of dialogue
and pauses to create tension and explore power dynamics.

5. **”Betrayal” (1978)**: This play is famous for its reverse chronological structure,
depicting an extramarital affair and exploring themes of memory and deception.

### Screenplays
1. **”The Servant” (1963)**: Directed by Joseph Losey, this film features Pinter’s
screenplay, which delves into themes of class and power.

2. **”The Go-Between” (1970)**: Another collaboration with Losey, this screenplay won
the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is based on the novel by L.P. Hartley.

3. **”The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981)**: Pinter adapted John Fowles’s novel into
a screenplay for this film, directed by Karel Reisz and starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy
Irons.

4. **”The Trial” (1993)**: Pinter adapted Franz Kafka’s novel for the screen, directed by
David Hugh Jones.

### Other Works

 1. **”Old Times” (1971)**: A play that explores memory and relationships through a trio of
characters whose pasts intertwine.

2. **”No Man’s Land” (1975)**: This play blends surreal and realistic elements, focusing
on two aging writers whose pasts and identities are uncertain.

3. **”Ashes to Ashes” (1996)**: A later work that continues to explore Pinter’s themes of
memory, trauma, and interpersonal power dynamics.

Harold Pinter’s works are celebrated for their unique style, complex characters, and the profound
themes they address, leaving a lasting impact on modern theater and film.