THE THEME OF ISOLATION IN HAROLD PINTER’S

‘THE CARETAKER’
By Lisbern Shawn Fernandes, EG-1913

Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker etches the dilemma faced by people post two
major World wars, which plunged them into a sudden absurdity of life. This
lead to a feeling of isolation, which reflects the thematic overtone in the
limited characters of the play: Aston, Mick and Davies, represented in varying
intensities.

Isolation in the play results from three major factors: a) lack of camarederie,
b) lack of connection, and c) lack of communication.

As the play begins, this thematic aspect of isolation is introduced to us

through the very setting of the play: the messy room. Pinter’s play begins and
ends in that room in the apartment. Instead of being peopled by a family or a
group of individuals, the room is empty of any beings except Aston. The only
companionship that he has is that of the clutter that surrounds him on all four
corners. Therefore the clutter can be a silent character in the play. However,
the clutter being an inanimate object, Aston cannot establish a communication
nor any “trust” in it, in any ways. Therefore, the room is isolated.

Aston’s isolation, however, doesn’t spruce up from the setting of the play, but
rather from a traumatic incident in his past. Aston used to dissent on some
issues in the society and used to talk a lot. Therefore, he was forced by his
mother and brother to accept an electric shock therapy to his brain, which
renders him mentally challenged. The very betrayal by people whom he
considered close to his heart results in Aston losing any meaning of trust and
friendship. It results in him investing his trust in the wrong people like Davies.

The fact that Aston saves Davies from a café brawl and gives him comforts like
providing him tobacco or a pair of shoes and ultimately a roof above his head
shows that he wants to break free from his isolation. He goes to the point of
trusting an eccentric stranger like Davies completely by leaving the apartment
with him alone in it and offering him the job of a caretaker. Aston’s effort
towards establishing camaraderie between him and Davies suggests that he
feels that he will find a better companion in Davies as they both share the
common trait of being isolated and helpless in their own ways. By establishing
camaraderie, Aston will be able to make a connection between him and
Davies: the same connection that he lost in his own mother and brother after
the shock therapy. Thus, it will lead to communication and hence dispel his
isolation. However, Davies responds negatively to this. Instead of being
grateful to Aston, he turns against him by complaining about the inadequacy
of things. He even questions the nature of the job being offered to him as a
caretaker. Ultimately, he even turns aggressive towards Aston and has him at
knife-point.

Davies is unstable and greedy, which is not surprising that he is cut off from
the society. He is a misfit as he blames others for his own mistakes and passes
racist remarks about “them Blacks”. Due to these reasons, others find it hard
to strike a camarederie with him, establish a connection and communication
with him, which results in his isolation. His basic identity is also questionable
as he goes by an assumed name – “Bernard Jenkins” and he excuses himself of
procuring his documents and “papers” from a town called Sidcup. Davies
could have ended his isolation by accepting Aston’s generous offer to stay in
his apartment but he tries to dominate it.

Finally, Aston is isolated as he is nearly neglected by his brother, Mick. He

seems to have distanced himself at the opening of the play. In fact, he doesn’t
want to take the “responsibility” of his brother who has been branded as a
mentally challenged person. That is why he transfers his responsibility to a
shifty stranger like Davies by asking him to do “a bit of caretaking”. Mick’s
lofty ambitions and the need of immideate results put through a jargon that is
incomprehensible to Aston and Davies makes the possibility of connection
and communication between them bleak. Although Davies starts ingratiating
himself with Mick to defend his case against Aston, the prospect of camaderie
between them dies prematurely as Mick gauges Davies’ intentions to separate
the two brothers and hence, he speaks in favor of Aston. Thus, Davies, having
killed the basic prerequisite of camarederie between him and Aston and Mick,
is finally isolated again. At the end, Mick seems to be on good terms with
Aston, as both of them smile looking at each other. However, Mick does not
stay with his brother and leaving everything in charge of Aston, he goes.

Thus the play ends where it begins and most probably, in a state that it was
earlier – an isolated room. Thus, Aston is back to his company with nothing
but inanimate clutter. Through this image, Pinter effectively portrays that
isolation is an inevitable companion of a human being.

Being an Absurdist playwright, Pinter experiments less with the plot and
more with the language itself to show the incoherence and ineffectiveness of
communication that leads to a feeling of distrust, incompatibility and
ultimately, isolation. This is done through the use of his characteristic pause
and silences. The incoherence of communication could be reflective of the
clutter in the room: the disorganization and lack of structure. Aston’s dream
to build “a shed out in the garden” is symbolic of his desire to bring this
structure back to his life away from the stiffling confines of the room and
hence, wipe away his loneliness and frustration.

REFERENCES

GradeSaver. "The Caretaker Wikipedia". GradeSaver. 7 February 2014 Web. 7

Feb. 2014. <http://www.gradesaver.com/the-caretaker/wikipedia/>.

H. B., Patil. "The Theme of Isolation in Harold Pinter’s 'The Caretaker'."

Criterion: An International Journal in English. 2.3 (2011). Web. 7 Feb.
2014. <http://www.the-criterion.com/V2/n3/Patil.pdf>.