ABSTRACT
In The Caretaker, Aston, who lives in a dilapidated house in a slummy suburb of London, invites in this play’s intruder the tramp Davies, who quickly asserts command of the home till Aston’s brother Mick offers Davies the job of caretaker. As a work-shy man Davies refuses and is thus in the end expelled from the last shelter that may be offered to him. As Pinter points out, Aston makes an effort to form a human connection, “When he turns his back at the end, you know he’ll never try again.” He adds, “You sympathize with both,” (Herridge, 9), and that sympathy throws into focus the human relationship. That private attempt to form a private human connection has, in turn, public, ethical repercussions as a basis for any community and action beyond the private level.
