Character Analysis of Harold Pinter's the Caretaker
Erlina Suwardi 2009-031-055
Character Analysis of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker
In drama, characters play a dominant role in order to present the scenes. Whether good or bad the characters are, they are the ones who make the play and without them, there will be no play can be presented. In this play , there are only three characters, the brothers, which are Aston and Mick, and the old tramp, Davies. It begins with Aston who brings Davies to his place owned by his brother, Mick. Aston allows and offers Davies, who seems to be homeless, to stay in his room. From the very beginning of the play until the end, the characters do not allow themselves to form good relationship with one another, as they come and go without certain purpose, and also their conversation seems often has no relevance to the situation they are in.
Aston, the person who brings Davies to his place, is a mentally retarded man because of the brain treatment given to him forcefully by his mother and brother. Actually, Aston was a very talkative person before he was given the therapy. As he says, “ I thought…they understood what I said. I mean I used to talk to them. I talked too much. That was my mistake. The same in the factory.” (p.906, line 58-60). He used to question about the certain things in society and thus he is made mentally retarded. After that, Aston not only loses questioning ability but also hard to communicate properly (p.907, line 54-71). In my opinion, Aston’s weakness is trusting people too much. Aston even believes a person like Davies. As a result, he is betrayed by not only an intruder like Davies but also by his mother and brother.
On the other hand, Davies is an old tramp which is homeless, in need of companionship and a place to stay. It is Aston who shows some kind of kindness to Davies. He gets the opportunity to stay in Aston’s room. However, instead of enjoying what he has already got and being thankful, Davies always complains about a number of thing, for
Character Analysis of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker
In drama, characters play a dominant role in order to present the scenes. Whether good or bad the characters are, they are the ones who make the play and without them, there will be no play can be presented. In this play , there are only three characters, the brothers, which are Aston and Mick, and the old tramp, Davies. It begins with Aston who brings Davies to his place owned by his brother, Mick. Aston allows and offers Davies, who seems to be homeless, to stay in his room. From the very beginning of the play until the end, the characters do not allow themselves to form good relationship with one another, as they come and go without certain purpose, and also their conversation seems often has no relevance to the situation they are in.
Aston, the person who brings Davies to his place, is a mentally retarded man because of the brain treatment given to him forcefully by his mother and brother. Actually, Aston was a very talkative person before he was given the therapy. As he says, “ I thought…they understood what I said. I mean I used to talk to them. I talked too much. That was my mistake. The same in the factory.” (p.906, line 58-60). He used to question about the certain things in society and thus he is made mentally retarded. After that, Aston not only loses questioning ability but also hard to communicate properly (p.907, line 54-71). In my opinion, Aston’s weakness is trusting people too much. Aston even believes a person like Davies. As a result, he is betrayed by not only an intruder like Davies but also by his mother and brother.
On the other hand, Davies is an old tramp which is homeless, in need of companionship and a place to stay. It is Aston who shows some kind of kindness to Davies. He gets the opportunity to stay in Aston’s room. However, instead of enjoying what he has already got and being thankful, Davies always complains about a number of thing, for