29 Chapter 3 Anger I had-I have-nothing to say about myself, directly. I wouldnt know where to begin.

Particularly since I often look at myself in the mirror and say who the hells that?i Anger is the generated force, which has socially detached man. Anger has posed at man such manners and behaviors that living with others or in a society, group and community has become impossible for him. It heightens the passions and emotions, which buffets mans senses. It makes one pugnacious, boils up a mans temper and directs him to singe his hair ii. It is normally believed, that anger constitute the catastrophic moments. It not only destroyers ones life but also put others life into jeopardy and mutilates the relationships. It produces the disparage feelings about others. This brawling humor has been seen, affecting the universe of man from epochs to epochs. It has caused such epidemic contagious effects, that thousands of individual have stood inimical to each other in the periods of war. The results of such choleric fights are imprinted on the minds of every upcoming generation. Anger is stimulated through different things. It has few general causes, by which it is originated. In post-modern era the causes of anger, which psychologist have noticed are, unfullfilment of conscious desires, unforgettable past and rapid change, to which modern man cannot co-opt. Freud writes about unconscious: The unconscious contents of the mind were found to consist wholly in the activity of conative trends-desires or wishes-which drive their energy directly from the primary physical instinct. They function quite regardless of any consideration other than that of obtaining immediate satisfaction, and are thus liable to be out of step with those more conscious elements in the mind which are concerned with adaptation to reality and the avoidance of external danger. Since, moreover, these primitive trends are to a great extent of a sexual or

30 of a destructive nature, they are bound to come in conflict with the more social and civilized forces.iii Post-modern man has captivated his personality in prison of psychology more than his predecessors have. The fight, in post-modern era has begun with the question of ones existence. The amalgamation of truth, fancy and lie has destroyed its universal spellbinding effect. In such a devastating period, where man has no door left open to escape and to enjoy, he has become adept in utilizing his angry force for his catharsis or to impose his meaning, worth and importance. In Pinter plays as it is in Beckett there is the tendency to deal with extreme situations, with men at the end of their tetheriv. Pinters characters are the pictorial house of post-modern angry young man. He has not simply portrayed angry young men in his plays; rather he has discussed matter in a very exclusive detail. An overall study of anger in human is the root subject in Pinters plays, which also investigate its causes and epidemic effects. He has displayed those situations, occasions, which spur anger in his characters. How it propels a man to denounce the worth of others and to get violent or to use force in order to escape from the difficult conditions? The modern philosopher Nietzsche and the most exhilarating psychologist Sigmund Freud has also darted out there theories about the causes of anger, which they have normally attached with the unconscious self of man. Proust believes like Freuds repressed memory of the past, he claims but never lost, Prosut too believed that the past part of our memory is concealed from our on vision in a more of less prolonged, thus leading us to remember those incidents which causes angerv. Pinters characters most often get angry when they do not find any possible mean to subdue their emotions. He has shown that characters, without knowingly plot the events to succeed in their ideals. His ideas demonstrate that their once comes a time in a mans life, when he comes to know or split out his unconscious desires, and from that onwards, he struggles to accomplish those desires. Freud claimed that forgetting is a memory, we remember to forget what we would do, better not to have in consciousness-that is repression has its advantages, although its cost may be physical woundingvi Repressed emotions are those unconscious dreams or desires,

31 which dwell in the inner core of mind. These are those ideals or wishes, which one does hope to snatch from the time and situation. Normally, an individual imposes social norms or some kinds of restrictions at them, in order to hide them from the outer world. Unconscious, due to lying in the thousand frames of mind, does not directly commands a man to grapple its motives ; Rather, it creates so much complex web of desires in a mans mind that he without knowingly executes his energies towards the fulfillment of those desires. Those oppressed emotions, haunt man all his life and at any period can become the cause of ones breakdown or any other psychological disease. A man gets angry when society or an outside force designs the unfavorable circumstances for him. These forces detain a mans wishes and prevent him to achieve his goals. In The Caretaker and No mans land, the protagonists of plays, get angry and frustrated, when they see their wishes ruin to nothingness. They try to accomplish their motives, but somehow fail either because of their own weakness or from the outside threat. In The Caretaker, there comes a time when Aston, Davies and Mick speak about their dreams, wishes and stimulate their energies to attain their goals. Aston first, foretells his dream to Davies. Being drastically tortured by society his only wish left is that to make a shed for the apartment. He says to Davies I might build a shed out the backvii. He has been seen throughout the whole play working with the different tools, going out to find the proper machines which could help him to erect his shed. While going out of the room he says to Davies I think Ill take a stroll down the road. A littlekind of a shop. Man thered got a jig saw the other day. I quite like the look of it. viii In his pursuit, Aston, realizes that he cannot bring his dreams into reality without others help. He seeks in Davies that other person, which can help him. He even offers Davies, You could becaretaker here, if u likedix, which in reality is the sub part of his project. But at the and of the play, the exhilarating disturbance is created, the anger is engendered in Aston, when Davies mocks at Aston dreams and pokes him by saying you think youre better than me you got another think coming. I know enough. They had you inside one of them places before they can have you inside again. Your brothers got an eye on you! They can put the pincers on your head again man! They can have them on againx. The unconscious self, being rotten and disturbed by the outside force, accelerates Aston anger and he in his wrath, gets ready to fight with Davies. The effect of choler generates so much agony in Aston that he instantly asks Davies

32 to leave his room. He gets quarrelsome and in that brawling temper, he rejects to give shelter to Davies by saying, I think its about time you found somewhere else. I dont think were hitting it off.xi Micks dream of decorating his flat, furnituremahogany and rosewood. Deep azure-blue carpet, unglazed blue and white curtains, a bedspread with a pattern of small blue roses on a white ground, dreeing-table with a lift-up top containing a plastic tray, table lamp of white raffiaxii, associates its fulfillment with Davies, but Davies again responses adversely than Micks expectations. His dubious nature compels Mick to withdrawal from their friendly relation and when Mick senses that there is no possible way to fulfill his dream, he gets angry. His urge to bring into certainty those dreams so intensely captures his mind that he neglects the codes of social morale. In his anger obtrusively abuses Davies and debars him form his post of caretaker. Davies also suffers from the same dilemma when he finds Aston a cause of disagreement in between his dream and himself. He at first abducts the Micks imagination, makes him to realize that his brother is the kernel stone, which is halting him to achieve his desires. He for a time being wins the trust of Mick, but later, when mike betrays him and circuitously assures him that he could not replace Aston, makes Davies livid. He turns his speech into ironic and harsh remarks, which looks as if he is preparing his opponent for fight. He even pokes Aston, tries to fight with him and gets so much upset with his present condition that nothing looks good to him. In No Mans Land, the repress emotions find their outlet through the reconstruction of the past. Their outcome pours such filthy results that Hirst and Spooner verbally quarrels with each other Hirst: I am beginning to believe youre a scoundrel. How dare you speak of Arabella Hinscott in such a fashion? Ill have you blackballed from the club! Spooner: Oh my dear sir, may I remind you that you betrayed Stella Winstanely with Emily Spooner, my own wife, throughout a long and solid summer, a fact at the time throughout the Home Counties? May I further remind you that Muriel Blackwood and Doreen Busby have never recovered from your insane and corrosive sexual absolutism? May I further remind you that your friendship with and corruption of Geoffrey Ramsden at Oxford was the talk of Balliol and Christchurch Cathedral?xiii

33 Their effort to discuss their past opens the threshold of unconsciousness, which thwart them to fight with one another. Their pugnacious remarks are the emblem that once the unconscious is allowed to flow out from brain, it can annihilate man and his surroundings because the parallel forces always embark to destroy others intentions. Hirst and Spooner ponder to cease the opportunity, which could entail their unconscious will and devastate the others objectives. In post-modern era, a hilarious change has been occurred in human nature. The need to recognize ones self, existence, has encouraged man to decide whether it is worthwhile to die or to live. It is the phenomenon of Existentialism that has aggravated Albert Camus to claim that, there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicidexiv. It has aghast the conventional patterns of life. The nature of this philosophy has produced a great conflict between man and his existence. The war has not simply started between man and his existence; it has directed its cannons towards the essence of man, towards the complete code of life. These ideas of complete life, newly born standards have saturated man against himself. The works of Pinter are the apparent example of fight between man and his existence and there overall outcome as anger. A critic believes Pinters Caretaker is not simply images of society which has lost all purpose and direction, of people dislodged from society. They are images of a world in which the idea of identity and individuality are themselves ironicxv. In The Caretaker, Micks anger is the result of his battle with himself. His actions suggest that he is broken by living in the domain of nothingness and needs to acknowledge someone his existence. He first represses his unconscious motive by living alone. But when he fails to mane his unconscious self, he severely starts beating Davies to acknowledge him about his existence and his worth. The sequence of dialogues connotes his intentions. Mick: (again amiable) What sort of sleep did you have in that bed? Davies: (banging on floor) All right! Mick: You werent uncomfortable? Davies: (Groaning) All right!xvi He, while beating demonstrates his dominancy and importance, by giving a long description about his uncle and friends:

34 You remind me of my uncles brother. He was always on the move, that man. Never without his passport. Had an eye for the girls. Very much your build. Bit of an athlete. Long-jump specialist. He had a habit of demonstrating different run-ups in the drawing- room round about Christmas time. Had a penchant for nuts. Thats what it was. Nothing else but a penchant. Couldnt eat enough of them. Peanuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, monkey nuts, wouldnt touch a piece of fruit cake. Had a marvelous stop watch. Picked it up in Hong Kong. They day after the chucked him out of the Salvation army. Used to go in number four for Beckenham Reserves. That was before he got his gold medal.xvii He limns the routes of streets, tells about the nature of people, their likes, dislikes, and erects the geographical pictorial of the cities, to exhibit his importance. His unconscious, projects him to lavish out his nature, which wants to echo his power and his desire of being recognized as the man of world. The event of beating in act one is basically the indication towards the post-modern idea that man is incapable of solving the riddle of his existence. The world is like in Nietzsche world a constant flow of repetition of miseries. He believes that man has no option left but to live in the constant overflow of repetition where events occur again and again in a mans life. He demarcates: What if a demon crept after you one day in your loneliest solitude and say to you: this life as you live it now and have lived it, you will have to live again and again, times without number; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and all the unspeakable small and

35 great in your life must return to you, and everything in the same series and in the same sequence- and in the same way this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and in the same way this moment and I myself. The eternal hour glass of existence will be turned again and again-and you with it, you dust of dust! - would you not through yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who thus spoke?xviii The more one tries to solve his mystery, the greater he finds his roots baseless. Not only this, Micks breaking of Buddhas statue connotes that if religion cannot solve the problem of mans existence than what is the need of worshipping the supernatural elements. Aston also passes through the same fury, but his ferment reduces, because he signs an indenture with his problem of existence. For him living and dying contain the same meaning. He lives in the abyss of nothingness, because he apprehends the fact that his existence is nothing more then the stuttered cloth of old man. He realizes that he has not come into this world according to his own will and therefore he does not have any power to control his process of existence. Yet one wonders what exactly life should have offered them. Like Sartrian disciples, they were thrown into the world from nowhere and with nowhere to go. They wander round No Hope Alleyxix Hirst and Spooner fight, while swimming on the beaches of their memory holes, indicate are trying to come into terms with their own query of existence. The invocation of previous moments does not assist them to resolve their mystery; it rather produces more intricacies in their struggle of demonstrating their existence. Their useless commotion enlightens them that are living a meaningless life and that they cannot alter their position. Their stagnant situation stirs them to indignation, because they see no hope, joy and sublimity left in their lives. The idea of nothingness can be extracted from last dialogues of Foster and Briggs, who deliberately lock the final change. They say Foster: It means forever. It means that the subject is changes once and for all. If the subject is winter, for instance, itll be winter forever.xx

36 because it is the final decision of post-modern man. Hirst at the end of the play mourns and regrets at his inert condition, as he perceives that he has left with no option, but to exist in the circle of nothingness. His own dialogue symbolizes his mournful condition. He says Yes. It is true. I am walking towards a lake. Someone is following me, through the trees. I loose him, easily. I see a body in the water, floating. I am excited. I look close and see I was mistaken. There is nothing in the water. I say to myself, I saw a body, drowning. But I am mistaken. There is nothing there.xxi The stagnant position of post-modern man defies the philosophy of freedom. Liberty is the cherished gift, bestowed upon man by nature, and man has possessed that right from centuries. Post-modern society has strongly negated the idea of individual freedom. Society and governmental laws has propagated its incongruity, which fears that individual freedom is a vice that can vanquish or destabilize their present values. Nevertheless, in the post-Modern era, the rigid position of man in the universe has also challenged the concept of freedom. The idea about existence has probed in man the anxiety whether he is really a free man or he continuously exists in a limited world. The post-modern concept of freedom and nothingness is that a man resents his condition of meaninglessness. A man has arrived at the conclusion that his existence is meaningless, but still he tries to run away from his insipid condition. He ejaculates different activities to keep himself active and busy, to forget the idea of meaninglessness. He dreams of getting freedom, of breaking every boundary, which halts him from living joyously. In the quest of his target, he topples down from his mountain of hope, into the state of nothingness, where he resents and vituperates his existence. Pinter has goaded both these concepts in his plays The Caretaker and No Mans land. It is first the idea of nothingness and freedom that leads Davies to loiter round the streets of London and to get lashes out by every individual to whom he meets. The conflict arises in him, when he accepts that, his own existence contain no meanings for him. He again and again tries to get rid of this dilemma but the facts fail him. He attempts to regain his social status, by adjudicating himself in society. He starts working in a hotel to get rid of his inert position. He accepts the offer of Mick as a caretaker and the invitation of Aston, to live in the room, to break the spell of nonbeing.

37 Mick also tries to break down the barriers of nothingness. Davies brings for him the hope for change. He dreams of decorating his apartment so that he could forget the quandary of his existence. His idea of achieving freedom from the self-imposed barriers shackle down, due to the unfavorable circumstances and he again returns to his empire of nothingness. Aston suffers from the some fate, when Davies a God of change and newness for Aston, pushes him back into the realm of nothingness by acting overtly. Hirst and Spooner deceive themselves like Estragon and Vladimir of Samuel Backett, by playing the game of memory and pretending that every time they have something new to play with. They apprehend that they can achieve freedom by indulging themselves in the memories of past. In the act one they start talking about their general experiences and in act two their discussion turn towards their personal interdependent events. For a short span, they indulge in erecting something new for them, creating for themselves a reason to live with, but nothingness and the post-modern idea about existence engulf their beingness. At the end of repartee, their idea about free will scatters and they again slip into the globe of nothingness where they burn in anguish and distress This dilemma of nothingness not only fuels the anger, it also creates the trait of hopelessness and aimlessness in all the Pinterian characters. There left no choice for them and no hope in life. They introspect that life has no charm for them and that they must live forever in the land of emptiness. The option of choice is terminated from their lives, when they comprehend that there is left nothing for them to amuse with or to be happy with. Nothingness strictly binds Pinters characters round himself. Even, Pinterian characters stop dreaming. Like characters say in The Caretaker. Davies: I wasnt dreaming. I never had a dream in my life.xxii because they know that their dreams cannot be carried out. The idea of nothingness has given shot to identity crisis. No meaning, no ideals and no hope has tortured man, to such a level that past-modern man finds it better to forget his identity. His state of nothingness has debarred him to attain an identity. Though, every humans unflinching desire is to be identified and to be recognized as individual or to be linked with some group or community In this ambivalence, he neither becomes the part of society, nor attains his individual identity; either pursues his life circle in anger and in great ferment.

38 Society aggrandizes the wrath of man, when it detains individual benefits to save its compactness. It proves venomous when an individual tires to break the social taboos, customs and lanes to achieve his goals, his particular motive. The conflict between individual benefits and society has long historic roots. In past-modern era, it has more firmly denounced the needs of man. In no mans land and in The Caretaker, characters have been shown in dispute with society to achieve their destination. The appropriate example of fight between society and individual benefit can be quoted from the over all events of the play No Mans land. Hirst and Spooner are seen terrorize by Foster and Briggs because they detain their freedom. Foster and Briggs, the mouthpiece of society, furnish every event of Hirst life according to their own will. Foster: its time for your morning walk. Pause I said its time for your morning walk.xxiii They finalize, to whom Hirst should meet, at what time he must sleep and what social duties he must attend to. The special characteristic of both delineate that they are the appointed lord over Hirst, which decide his upcoming events and destiny. The Caretaker character, Aston, begets anger, solitude and hopelessness. His exceptional intelligence leads him to talk with the supernatural or invisible things, which has been shown as rebellious action against society. To this response, society proves a menace for him and it tortures Aston to divert his thoughts more towards social benefits, and dogmas. Aston passes through those violent periods and compresses his personality to morbid, in order to save himself from those vicious shocks. Later in his life when he again starts murmuring with those supernatural things, he instantly shut about his action and dwells down deep in solitude and optimism, where he agitates and choler about his previous experience with society. Davies points out the reinhabitation of his habit He wasnt talking to me, he dont care about me. He was talking to himself! Thats all he worries about.xxiv Pinter has also shown memory as the most obvious cause of anger. it works in three ways to heighten the anger of man. (i) It reminds a character that he has not been able to achieve his goal. (ii), memory sometimes scruples the anger and instigate wrath, because it pulls out those things from the storehouse of reminiscent, which bring into mind the excruciating incidents (iii), Memory sometime brings forth those unhappy experiences of man with

39 society, which batter him into anger. Aston suffers from pangs and agonies in The Caretaker because he limns his previous experience of society. Hirst and Spooner, play for a long time with their memory, but later display a freezing disorder, their own past dig out those evil deeds, which they have long repressed.

NOTES

i ii

Pinter, Harold. The Birthday Party. 1960. ISBN 0-571-16734-9 Brown, Mark. The Causes of Anger. 18 Aug 2009<http://www.stop-being-angry.com/causesof-anger.php> Freud, Sigmund and Joseph Breuer. Studies on Hystreia. Trans. James and Alix Starchey. Ed. Waston, G. J. Drama: An Introduction. (London & Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press LTD, 1983), Foucault, Michel. Question on Geography: in Power/Knowledge. Selected interviews and other Freud, Sigmund. Beyond the Pleasure Principle: A Complete Psychological Work of Sigmund Pinter, Harold. The Caretaker. 1960 (London: Fakenham-Norfolk,1981), 17 Ibid. 24 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid. 60 Pinter, Harold. No Mans Land. 1975(London: Eyre Methuen Press, 1979), 76 Camus, Albert. The Myth Of Sisyphus. Trans. Justin O Brien (Hamish Hamilton, 1955), 104 The Language of Crisis In British Theatre. 25 Aug 2009. <htpp://www.wikipedea.com> Pinter, Harold. The Caretaker. 1960 (London: Fakenham-Norfolk,1981), 33 Ibid. 31 Nietzsche, Friedrick. Thus spoke Zarathustra. Trans. Intro. R. J. Holligan (London: Penguin Books Lumely, Frederick. The Trends in 20th Century Drama: A Survey Since Ibsen and Shaw. (London: Pinter, Harold. No Mans Land. 1975(London: Eyre Methuen Press, 1979), 92 Ibid. 95 Pinter, Harold. The Caretaker. 1960 (London: Fakenham-Norfolk,1981), 23 Pinter, Harold. No Mans Land. 1975(London: Eyre Methuen Press, 1979), 81 Pinter, Harold. The Caretaker. 1960 (London: Fakenham-Norfolk,1981), 59

iii

Angelea Richards (London: Penguin Books LTD, 1991), 20

iv

187
v

writings, 1972-1977. Ed. Colin Gordon (New York: Pantheon, 1986), 11

vi

Freud. Ed. James Strachey. Vol. 18 (London: Hogarth Press, 1974), 30

vii viii ix x xi xii xiii xiv xv xvi

xvii xviii

LTD, 1969), 19
xix

Barrie and Rockliff, 1956), 209

xx xxi xxii xxiii xxiv