Why Absurd is Meaningful?
1. Any man is a
Modern man if he is capable of dropping the Hydrogen Bomb and Atom Bomb on
innocent people without any shame or guilt. While doing the act he thinks that
he is playing God.
2. Any man who is
buying land on the Moon and Mars is a Modern Man.
3. Modern Man
thinks that once he was Ape Man and in the future one day he would be Super
Man, only he has to grasp more than he can hold. He believes in the Theory
of Evolution.
4. Modern Man
believes in his Negative Capability. He has infinite strength to face uncertainty. The world is not a closed rational system, the erratic and
eccentric stand a better chance of understanding the world than a rational man.
5. Modern Man is
proud of agnosticism, commercialisation , technology, anything that widens the
gap between rich and poor.
Modern Man has
three faces- Mike, Aston and Davies in The Caretaker by Harold Pinter.
Mike and Aston are brothers and Davies is a tramp. All of them are
directionless . In the play Shoes have been used symbolically. They are symbolic
of the right path, action and destination, which all the three are utterly
lacking. Despite being aimless they are ready to lend shoes and thus show path
to others without caring for its appropriateness.
All the three
suffer from isolation. At the beginning of Act I Mike is alone on the stage and
at the end of play Davies stands alone on the stage. Mike rejects the audience
and walks away after thirty seconds without uttering a single word. He attracts
the attention of the audience at the garbage scattered in the room. Davies stands
alone rejected by both, the brothers as well as the audience. The means of
communication have decreased the capacity of Modern Man for genuine
communication. Fear of rejection is due to lack of genuine communication.
All the three are
opportunist and leave no chance to take advantage of each other. Aston has not
brought Davies home out of charity. He wants to use him as an assistant and
take his help in constructing a shed in the backyard of the house which is his
long awaited dream. He collected Davies as he collects all other junk with the
objective of putting them to use someday. Davies after realising that Mike is
the owner of the house plays tricks to separate brothers. Mike is using his
imbecile elder brother as caretaker.
Since society is
always undergoing a transformation and time has lost its sanctity as Past,
Present and Future, Modern Man feels loss of identity. All the three characters
are insecure due to loss of identity. They either do not have any past history
or they were oblivious of it. Mike was declared as mental patients and electric
shocks were given to him whenever he tried to talk sensibly. He suffered from
erratic memory lapses and lost his identity as a complete rational man. Davies
confesses that original papers establishing his true identity are at Sidcup for
the last seven years and he is living with a false name-Bernard Jenkins. Papers
have become the only source of identity of Modern Man. The true identity of
real self has lost the meaning.
Mike is mysterious
and no one knows where he lives and what does he do?
Modern Man is a great
planner and same is true for all the three characters. Mike is planning to
renovate the house, Aston is planning to construct a shade in the backyard and
Davies is planning to collect his papers from Sidcup. All are waiting for appropiate time
All the three
characters are Biblical. Davies is Dionysus or the wandering Jew, Mick is dark
angel and Ashton is bright angel as well as Christ himself as carpenter trying
to build a church. Expulsion of Davies is also allegorical to the expulsion of
Adam from Garden of Eden.
All the three have
invisible parents, which shows that parents have become aliens for Modern Man. Beside
this all the three suffer from racial hatred, fear of rejection, distrust,
hallucinations, confinement, distorted values, sexual perversions( exchange of
notes between Aston and Davies) and ennui which is the hallmark of Modern Life.
The birth of new theories like Absurdism, Cynicism, Skepticism Nihilism and
atheistic existentialism is consequential.
In the end Mick
hurls the Buddha statute against the gas stove and it breaks. This is highly symbolic.
Buddha is a symbol of peace and compassion. The broken statute is symbolic that
the option of peace is now obsolete. All the compassion which both the brothers
demonstrated for Davies is also lost. It also symbolises that iconoclastic
faith prevails in aimless and purposeless life.
Mike passionately
outbursts '' I got to think about expanding... in all directions. I don't stand
still. I am moving about , all the time. I am moving... all the time. I have got
to think about future ...".
That's the damnable misery of it
Just an absurd thought:
Wriggle if you cannot walk: Walk if you cannot run ~Vipin Behari Goyal
References:
2. Barrett, William (1977). Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy.
Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-8371-9671-X.
262 pages. Oberon Books
© Vipin Behari
Goyal
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