Introduction

Project Timeline

Techniques and Styles in The Caretaker

Who is the Caretaker?

Davies speech illustrates Pinter’s ability to convey the illogical nature and repetitions of everyday language. His roundabout use of language shows his mind works by prejudice rather than logic.

Pinter uses hesitant and ungrammatical language to add drama and vibrancy to Davies’s speech.

Mick either uses few words or is crazily inventive. He uses language to suggest social superiority.

Davies, Aston and Mick all have long monologues which are intimate in subject but which fail to develop into a conversation. Each characters monologue reflects the speakers thought processes through rhythm and tone.

Mick’s monologues are both stylized and fantastic. They are full of imaginative invention and establish Mick as the dominant character. Pinter pushes Mick’s speeches to the very limit of improvisation before turning them into a serious question which immediately put Davies at a disadvantage.

“You know, believe it or not, you’ve got a funny kind of resemblance to a bloke I once knew in Shoredich. Actually he lived in Aldergate. I was staying with a cousin in Camden Town. This chap, he used to have a pitch in Finsbury Park, just by the bus depot. When I got to know him I found out he was brought up in Putney. That didn’t make any difference to me. I know quite a few people who were born in Putney. Even if they weren’t born in Putney they were born in Fulham..... Yes, it was a curious affair. Dead spit of you he was. Bit bigger round the noise but there was nothing in it. Pause. Did you sleep here last night?”

Davies' monologues are in contrast, emotional, their dramatic force provided by the rhythm and intensity of feeling behind them. While Mick’s speeches are imaginative and vibrant Davies’ tend to revolve around a single word or concept, with a single object, for example a bucket, becoming a matter of immense importance. In essence Davies is really always talking about himself and consequently his speeches fail to develop into a dialogue of any meaning.

“Comes up to me, parks a bucket of rubbish at me, tells me to take it out the back. It’s not my job to take out the bucket! They got a boy there for taking out the bucket. I wasn’t engaged to take out buckets. My job’s cleaning the floor, clearing up tables, doing a bit of washing-up, nothing to do with taking out buckets!... yes,, well say I had! Even if I had! Even if I was supposed to take out the bucket, who was this git to come up and give me orders? We got the same standing. He’s not my boss. He’s nothing superior to me.”

Aston’s monologue is a long autobiographical piece at the end of Act II. It is the climax of the act, its power coming from the subject matter and the effort it takes Aston. It is a compelling recollection of his treatment in a mental hospital and its dreadfulness. The speech is particularly effective because Aston has spoken little up until this point and consequently revealed little about himself, we are curious to know more.

“... and then suddenly this chief had these pincers on my skull and I knew he wasn’t supposed to do it while I was standing, up that’s why I... anyway, he did it. So I did get out. I got out of the place... but I couldn’t walk very well. I don’t think my spine was damaged. That was perfectly all right. The trouble was... my thoughts... had become very slow... I couldn’t think at all... I couldn’t... get... my thoughts... together...uuuhh... I could ... never quite get it... together.”

Pinter uses language as a means of gaining power, and dominance over others in The Caretaker. It is used by the characters to gain a position of dominance, to secure that position and to undermine the dominance of others. Language is always has a hidden intention or meaning, which the other characters are trying to second guess.

The use of language highlights one of the play’s themes - the lack of communication. The characters rarely seem to be of one mind when it comes to dialogue, each having their own motives.

Pinter’s language defines the characters and their inability to relate. The final stage directions - Long silence - curtain - emphasizes the fact that there is nothing left to be said between them.