ART OF CHARACTERIzATION
CHARACTER OF DAVIES IN CARETAKER BY HAROLD PINTER
Davies, an old tramp, is the protagonist in The Caretaker. His portrayal, says Ruby Cohen, is "a bitter commentary on the human condition". In their attitudes towards the old man, the human derelict, the two brothers present only surfaces contrasts. Mick begins by knocking him down, whereas Aston, instead of allowing him to die in despair, rescues him, shares his room with him and opens up home to him. Bother the brothers name the old man as caretaker, offer him a kind of scrutiny, which they both subsequently withdraw. Mick turns his back on the old man for failing to fulfil a role to which he never aspired, but Aston rejects him for what he is cantankerous, self-deluded and desperate.
Of all Pinter's plays, The Caretaker makes the most bitter commentary on the human condition; instead of allowing an old man to die beaten in a pub brawl, "the System" wisest on tantalising him with faint hope, thereby immeasurably increasing his final desperate anguish. There is perhaps a pun contained in the title: The Caretaker is twisted into taker on of care, for care is the human destiny.
Davies-Aston Relationship
The Davies-Aston relationship begins with Aston apparently in command of the situation as both hos and rescuer of the itinerant Davies. His calm, quiet acceptance of the uneasy guest seems a natural posture of superiority, and Davies at first accepts it as such. As both guest and rescued, Davies, in contrast to Aston, is noisy, repetitive and insecure. The evident aim of his early initiatives is to locate a potential common ground and probably one that will be seen his degree of dependency in the relationship. Ironically, his insecurity is increased by the very means that he adopts to diminish it. The fact that it is he, and not Aston, who feels compelled to talk undermines his position at the same time that his verbal manoeuvres seek to strengthen it.
Davies: Sit down' Huh... I haven't had a good sit
Davies, an old tramp, is the protagonist in The Caretaker. His portrayal, says Ruby Cohen, is "a bitter commentary on the human condition". In their attitudes towards the old man, the human derelict, the two brothers present only surfaces contrasts. Mick begins by knocking him down, whereas Aston, instead of allowing him to die in despair, rescues him, shares his room with him and opens up home to him. Bother the brothers name the old man as caretaker, offer him a kind of scrutiny, which they both subsequently withdraw. Mick turns his back on the old man for failing to fulfil a role to which he never aspired, but Aston rejects him for what he is cantankerous, self-deluded and desperate.
Of all Pinter's plays, The Caretaker makes the most bitter commentary on the human condition; instead of allowing an old man to die beaten in a pub brawl, "the System" wisest on tantalising him with faint hope, thereby immeasurably increasing his final desperate anguish. There is perhaps a pun contained in the title: The Caretaker is twisted into taker on of care, for care is the human destiny.
Davies-Aston Relationship
The Davies-Aston relationship begins with Aston apparently in command of the situation as both hos and rescuer of the itinerant Davies. His calm, quiet acceptance of the uneasy guest seems a natural posture of superiority, and Davies at first accepts it as such. As both guest and rescued, Davies, in contrast to Aston, is noisy, repetitive and insecure. The evident aim of his early initiatives is to locate a potential common ground and probably one that will be seen his degree of dependency in the relationship. Ironically, his insecurity is increased by the very means that he adopts to diminish it. The fact that it is he, and not Aston, who feels compelled to talk undermines his position at the same time that his verbal manoeuvres seek to strengthen it.
Davies: Sit down' Huh... I haven't had a good sit