Dumb Waiter

Context

Harold Pinter is one of the most acclaimed contemporary British playwrights, noted particularly for his early body of work. He was born in the working-class neighborhood of East London's Hackney (an ironic name for such an original writer) in 1930, the son of a Jewish tailor. He evacuated to Cornwall, England, at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and returned to London when he was 14. He began acting in plays at his grammar school, and later received a grant to study at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He left the school after two years and spent most of the 1950s writing his published poetry (under the name Harold Pinter) and acting in small theater productions (often under the pseudonym David Baron). In 1957, he wrote his first play in four days, The Room, a sign of the prolific output to come. His first produced play—The Birthday Party—came a year later. The reception was unfavorable—it closed within a week—but Pinter's next full-length play, The Caretaker (1960), won more accolades.

The Dumb Waiter, also staged in 1960, helped cement Pinter's status as a major theatrical figure. He frequently directed and sometimes acted in his growing body of work in the 1960s and 1970s, while disseminating his work into radio, television, and film. After 1978's Betrayal, Pinter did not write another full-length play until 1994, but he continued writing shorter plays and adapting the work of others for the stage and screen. A conscientious objector of war when he was eighteen (for which he was fined by the Royal Academy), Pinter was motivated to be more political—both in his works and in his public life. He was particularly distressed by the dictatorial coup that overthrew Chilean President Salvador Allende in 1973. He has since become an outspoken advocate of human rights, and has criticized the Gulf War bombings and other military actions. His actions are not without controversy or contradiction—he attacked the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999, and in 2001 joined The International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president arrested by the United Nations for crimes against humanity.

Pinter's plays generally take place in a single, prison-like room. His works, which blend comedy and drama, often focus on jealousy, betrayal, and sexual politics, but it is his dialogue—and the lack of dialogue—for which he is known. Pinter's language, usually lower-class vernacular, has been described as poetic. His compressed, rhythmic lines rely heavily on subtext and hint at darker meanings. Just as important, however, are the silences in his plays. Pinter has spoken much on the subject, and has categorized speech as that which attempts to cover the nakedness of silence. His most obvious forbear is Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, who took silences to a new level, and other playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd (a French dramatic movement in the 1950s), but whereas Beckett's silences hint at alienation, boredom, and the slow approach to death, Pinter's are ominous and violent. The true natures and motivations of his characters emerge in their silences.

Despite Pinter's relative decrease in creative output, academic attention on Pinter remains as heavy as ever. The Harold Pinter Society was founded in 1991. It publishes The Pinter Review and organizes conferences.

Plot overview

In a basement with a kitchen and beds, Ben reads a newspaper while Gus ties his shoelaces. Gus walks to the kitchen door, then stops and takes a flattened matchbox out of one shoe, and a flattened cigarette carton out of the other. He puts both items in his pocket and leaves for the bathroom. There's a sound of the toilet chain being pulled without it flushing, and Gus returns. Ben reports to Gus a newspaper article about a truck running over an elderly man. Ben orders Gus to make tea. Gus hopes, "it won't be a long job." Ben reports on an article about a child who kills a cat. Gus asks if Ben has noticed how long it takes for the toilet tank to fill.

Gus complains he didn't sleep well on the bed and wishes that there were a window. He laments that his life revolves around sleeping all day in an unfamiliar, dark room, then performing a job, and then leaving at night. Ben tells him they are fortunate to be employed. Gus asks if Ben ever gets fed up, but they soon fall silent. The toilet finally flushes. Ben commands him to make tea, as they will go to work very soon. Gus asks Ben why he stopped the car that morning in the middle of the road. Ben says they were early. Ben tells Gus they are in the city of Birmingham. Gus wants to watch the Birmingham soccer team tomorrow (Saturday), but Ben says that there is no time and that they have to get back. Gus speaks about a Birmingham game they once saw together, but Ben denies it. An envelope slides under the door.

Neither one knows what is in the envelope. Ben orders Gus to pick it up and open it. He does, and empties out twelve matches. They are confused, and Ben commands Gus to open the door and see if anyone is outside. With a revolver for protection, Gus finds no one. Gus says the matches will come in handy, as he always runs out. Ben tells him to light the kettle instead. They debate the phrase "light the kettle." Gus feels one should say the "gas," since that is what is being lit, or "put on the kettle," a phrase his mother used. Ben denies this and challenges Gus to remember the last time he saw his mother. After further arguments about the phrase, in which Ben reminds Gus that he has seniority, Ben chokes Gus and screams "THE KETTLE, YOU FOOL!"

Gus acquiesces and tries to see if the matches will light. They don't light on the flattened box, but they work on his foot. Ben says, "Put on the bloody kettle," then realizes he has used Gus's phrase. He then stares at Gus until he leaves. Gus comes back, having lit the kettle, and wonders, "who it'll be tonight." He says he wants to ask Ben something, and sits on Ben's bed, which annoys him. Ben asks Gus why he barrages him with so many questions, and tells him to do his job and shut up. After Gus repeatedly asks who it's going to be tonight and a moment of silence, Ben orders him to make tea. After he leaves, Ben checks his revolver under his pillow for ammunition. Gus returns and says that the gas has gone out and the meter needs to be refilled with coins. Ben says they'll have to wait for Wilson. Gus says that Wilson doesn't always come—he sometimes sends only a message. Gus argues that since no one ever hears anything, Wilson must own all the places they go to; Ben says Wilson rents them. Gus also finds it hard to talk to Wilson, and says he's been thinking about the "last one"—a girl. He remembers the job was a "mess." He wonders who "clears up" after they leave. Ben reminds him that there are many "departments" in their "organization" that take care of other matters.

They are interrupted by a sound from the wall. They investigate and find a box on a dumb waiter (a small elevator used for conveying food and dishes between stories of a building). Gus pulls a piece of paper out, and reads out an order for food. The dumb waiter ascends. Ben explains that the upstairs used to be a café, the basement was the kitchen, and that these places change ownership quickly. The dumb waiter descends again, and Gus pulls out another order for food. Gus looks up the hatch, but Ben pushes him away. Ben decides they should send something up, but they have only a little food. They put everything on a plate, but the dumb waiter ascends before they can put the plate on it. The box descends again with another order, this time for "high class" exotic food. They put the plate on and Gus calls up the brand names of the food. Ben tells him not to shout, as "It isn't done." Gus then discusses, without Ben's answering, his feelings of anxiety about the job and Wilson. Another order comes down the passage for more food with which they are unfamiliar. The packet of tea they sent up has also returned.

Ben decides they should write a note telling them they can't fill the orders, but then they notice an intercom tube. Gus yells into the tube that there is no food. Ben gives Gus the instructions for the job. They must corner the target with guns when he or she enters the room. Gus excuses himself to the bathroom, where the toilet again does not flush, and returns. He asks Ben who is upstairs. They argue, and Gus wants to know why they have to play these "games." Ben hits him twice on the shoulder. Another order comes, they fight again, and then they retreat into silence, Ben reading his newspaper, as the dumb waiter goes up and comes down again. Gus leaves to get a drink of water, and the speaking tube whistle blows. Ben listens through the tube and confirms that it is time to do their job. He hangs up and calls for Gus. He levels his gun at the door and Gus stumbles in, vulnerably stripped of some of his clothes and his gun. He looks up at Ben, and they stare at each other through a long silence.

Character list

Gus

Gus is a submissive junior hit man who is constantly bossed around by Ben. Both Gus and Ben are protagonists of the play, but the audience, also limited in knowledge, sees the play from Gus's point-of-view, and empathizes more with him. Gus is more sensitive, has a conscience about his job, and is bored by the stale routine of his lower-class life. He also questions the inner workings of their job more, especially with regards to the mysterious Wilson.

The audience is meant to sympathize with Gus, the well-meaning, slightly slower junior partner-in-crime to Ben. We are in the same position as Gus: like Gus, we are not familiar with the job they are going to perform, we don't know what exactly is happening upstairs from the basement, and Ben's betrayal should be as much of a shock to us as it is to Gus. Gus is somewhat child-like, pestering Ben with numerous requests, complaints about their environment, and questions. He is generally submissive to Ben's orders—everything from making tea to investigating outside the door—though he stands up for what he believes in, as with the "Light the kettle" argument.

Gus is more sensitive than Ben to issues of traditional human concern. He often touches upon deeper issues Ben does not wish to contemplate—about death, the dull routine of life, and the nature of the elusive employer Wilson. He is concerned with the consequences of his job. He is haunted by the image of their messy murder of their last victim, a girl, and is anxious about this next job. He is fed up with the dull routine of life, but can do nothing to get out of it. His recurring trips to t...