The Caretaker by Harold Pinter Essay -- Caretaker Harold Pinter Essays

The Caretaker by Harold PinterIn this essay I will take the position that the consultation see Davies asboth a friendly dupe and a fond parasite. Firstly a definition of asocial victim and a social parasite will be given. A social victim isan individual who is looked down upon by other members of society,vulnerable to beak and not accorded the same rights as others.Therefore this disenfranchised group of mass do not experience theusual comforts and perks of society. A social parasite is some wizard whoexists off the backs of others efforts and not their own.Davies is a social victim because of his low social standing as avagrant. He is unquestionably at the bottom of the social hierarchyperhaps he is thither because others have trodden on him to climb higherthemselves .It is not explained how, but what we do know is thatbecause Davies is a social victim, to survive he also becomes a socialparasite.Throughout the play Davies shows some strong traits to the audience of being a social victim. The audiences very first impression of Daviesis that his appearance is one of a vagrant,Davies wears a worn down brown overcoat, shapeless trousers, a waistcoat,vest, no shirt, and sandals. This description shows Davies eitherdoes not take a large hail of care in his appearance, or he cannotafford smart, tidy clothes. This makes the audience feel sorry forhim. The audience recognises that his anti-social appearance setsDavies apart from the rest of society. The waistcoat Davies is wearinggives the impression that he was once a respected gentleman. However,the worn and shapeless clothes he is also wearing in line of work with thewaistcoat make him look unkempt and scruffy. Davies likes to portrayhi... ...aps he had the blueprint of stealing from Aston. He noticeably does not want Aston tosee him sounding around in this way this is shown because Davies opensthe door to see if Aston is gone, and then closes forward lookingaround. It could be considered that Davies does this because he wouldnot want Aston to think he is taking advantage of him. Davies isinquisitive. He picks up some random items of Astons, comments onthem, and puts them back. To the audience, Davies is so interested inAstons things because he wants to see what Aston is worth. If Astonhad little, there would be less point in staying, as there wouldnothing to further from Davies perspective.To conclude, there are many episodes within the first act that glitterboth Davies victimisation and his opportunism, thus enabling theaudience to view him as social victim and social parasite.