An analysis of the room in The Caretaker

摘 要：本論文試圖分析品特作品《看房人》中封閉而神秘的房間，作品中的房間象征著人類在這個充滿冷酷而敵意的世界中唯一可以把握的物質基礎，它有多重的象征意義。

關鍵詞：品特;房間；意義

Abstract:The paper aims to analyze the closed and mysterious room which manifests Pinter’s unique dramatic style and his great potential proficiency in creating dramas. The room stands for something a person can grasp in the world full of coldness and hostility. When the small room has something to do with people’s exile， the audience has to pay attention to such various relationships between people.

Key words: Pinter， room， meanings

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-15-0055-01

In The Caretaker， the closed and mysterious room manifests Pinter’s unique dramatic style and his great potential proficiency in creating dramas. The dramatic conflict is always surrounding the small room which stands for something a person can grasp in the world full of coldness and hostility. Pinter skillfully employs such an image of a room， putting the small room into the interpersonal development between the characters. Especially， when Pinter’s small room has something to do with people’s exile， the audience has to pay attention to such various relationships as people are driven away by some kind of mysterious force， and then they are sheltered by the owner of the small room.

People lost their spiritual home， especially after World War II. As a result， they were plunged into the great apprehension and loneliness， with confusion about their own identities. When people were wondering about their own selfhood， they began to rely on other objects to prove their existence， or to reestablish their lost confidence. Thus， man tried to keep the last shelter of his own， and to rationalize his reason to exist in the world by scrambling for the room.

The room， for modern people， is far from the simple， practical function as sheltered from wind and rain， but a representative of their existence and identity. It is the last shelter for people’s spiritual home， which functions as the habitat for the worldly people， a place for people’s short-term rest. At the same time， people establish their own identities only by owning the room. This is a physical way to express themselves in the material world， and the room becomes the intermediary for people to communicate. Therefore，everyone wants to look after the room， to invade the room and to be sheltered in the room. The worries about the room make people feel that once they lose the room， they would be homeless. In order to possess the safe room， people get into great hostility， apprehension and doubt. In The Caretaker， the old tramp Davies tries to relieve his apprehension of his own identity by striving to be the caretaker of the small room. his apprehension and worries about his unattainable identification papers make him try to possess the small room. To occupy the room means a chance to rewrite his identity， at the same time， marking the end of his vagrant life. As a result， the identity of a caretaker will replace the identity of a tramp.

The room in The Caretaker has many symbolic meanings， and is firstly a place people can live. According to some critics， the room can be symbolized as a “womb”， where people can protect themselves from being attacked. In The Caretaker， the room tends to have some sort of kind and friendly atmosphere， just as Davies is sheltered by Aston out of sympathy. Yet， the room also can be symbolized as a “tomb” where people could lose their love， care， and even life. Being always confronted with many such different symbolic meanings， the audience is always mystified about which symbolic meaning is the appropriate one for interpreting the play. All their bafflements are caused by Pinter’s technique of endowing the room with multiple symbolic meanings which also unveils the uncertain elements in his plays.

Pinter is adept in creating the uncertainty of the “room” and leads the audience to perceive the safety and security， as well as danger and menace around it. Pinter describes the room as a place of safety and warmth on the one hand; and on the other hand， he also depicts the room as danger， menace and coldness. The unique characteristic of the two room images relies on the audience’s incapability to know the relation between them. In The Caretaker， when the old tramp Davies is brought back by kind-hearted Aston to his room， the image of the room is now for Davies is a place of warmth and safety. However， after he commits some unforgivable mistakes， he is encountered with being driven away from the room by the two brothers. At this moment， the room image suddenly turns into a place of danger， filled with unspeakable menace for Davies. The unexplainable force which controls the change of the room image intensifies the uncertain elements in the play. So， the audience could not know when the room they live would become a place of danger or fear. By creating such an uncertain image of the room， Pinter tries to show one of his dramatic themes， namely， uncertainty in our daily life. Pinter reveals the uncertain image of the room， with the audience’s imagination given full play. At the same time， Pinter invites the audience to perceive the ambiguous elements in their daily life when they view the play.

References：

[1]、Christopher Innes. Modern British Drama 1890-1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press， 2001.

[2]、Derbyshire， Harry. Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter. edit. By Peter Raby. ---Cambridge: Cambridge University Press， 2001.