The Pillowman Analysis

In The Pillowman and The Cripple of Inishmaan, Martin McDonagh uses dark and politically incorrect humor in order to give a sense of humanity to characters that may otherwise be written off by audiences as inherently evil. The paradox of McDonagh’s disturbingly humorous writing style push his audiences to the very edge of their comfort zones and at times shoves them straight off the edge, while still maintaining a strong level of entertainment. The Pillowman and The Cripple of Inishmaan feature the alienation of characters who struggle through both mental and physical disabilities respectively, which further the inappropriately dark humor, that when audience members take a step back to think about, could make anyone feel guilty for laughing
This opens audience minds to the fact that there is also a potential for themselves to be corrupted in the same ways that the antagonistic characters are. This allows the characters to become three-dimensional and be related to on a more personal level. Something that helps make McDonagh’s plays particularly intriguing is that “He never demonizes his torturers, murderers, and lost souls; his scrutiny reveals that there are no evil people, just people whose good has been somehow twisted by suffering” (Jeff Grygny). Helen McCormick, a supporting female character in The Cripple of Inishmaan is an example of how he goes about writing his “evil” characters. Helen is constantly ridiculing and mistreating Billy, but McDonagh reveals that she is more or less a victim of circumstance. She’s been consistently assaulted for most of her life, illustrating the idea that she was molded into the mean-spirited character that the audience sees. In The Cripple of Inishmaan Helen describes one such encounter to Eileen “Oh, maybe it is, but if God went touching me arse in choir practice I’d peg eggs at that fecker too” (McDonagh). This reveals the motivation behind Helen’s cruel disposition. McDonagh is careful to be sure that Helen is not viewed as inherently evil, and he employs the same tactics when it comes to Michal of The Pillowman. The audience is made
It can be perceived that McDonagh chose to have Billy as physically disabled or “broken” as a symbol of him being the character breaking the Irish stereotypes. The excessive use of these offensive stereotypes pushes the show even more toward in-yer-face theatre because it forces audiences to face the stereotypes head on, just as Billy has to do with the people around