Traces of Guilt, Identity, Security, and Existence in Harold Pinter's the Caretaker

Abstract

The action of the play takes place in a junk-filled room of a tumble-down house and the other rooms need “a lot of doing” (Hern, 1982:21). Inner guilt is a cry for, identity, security and existence. In The Caretaker, all these terms are defined by the relationship among Davies, Aston and Mick. The sense of guilt is underlined by the lack of identity positions and, to an extent, by their clinging reliance on physical objects. It is significant that we are not introduced to the characters by way of a formal exposition. This would imply that they are familiar and known from the beginning. The sense of guilt does not only belong to Davies’ own inner world but to the world outside also. The expulsion of Davies from the Paradise has uprooted him not only in the ontological aspect but also in the psychological respect. Davies himself is not an innocent victim but a victimizer too. He is a victim of a system, which gives him a name but forces him to use another. He combats injustice with inertia and self-righteousness. This article aims at analyzing the traces of guilt, security, identity, and existence in Harold Pinter's famous play, The Caretaker.