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Act 1, Scene 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Caretaker, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power and Deception
The Absurdity of Modern Society
Alienation and Family
Identity and Authenticity
The Limitations of Language
Summary
Analysis
It’s morning, and the lights are on. Aston gets dressed, makes his bed, and turns around to face Davies, who is still asleep. Aston smiles and coughs, which wakes up Davies. Davies sits up in bed, confused, before he remembers where he is. Aston checks out the toaster, poking at it with a screwdriver. He asks Davies if he was dreaming last night, as he was making lots of groaning noises in the night. Davies appears alarmed and insists that Aston must be mistaken, as he never dreams or talks in his sleep. Instead, he hypothesizes that it was “them Blacks” making noises through the walls that caused him his apparent unrest.
Aston has moved on to another arbitrary broken object, seemingly without having fixed the plug he was fiddling with yesterday. This seems to be a pattern: he acts productive and insists that he’s good with his hands, though he never actually finishes any of the tasks he sets out to do. Meanwhile, Davies is again blaming others for his faults rather than taking responsibility for them, scapegoating “them Blacks” (a derogatory way of referring to Black people). In a sense, then, both men are lying to themselves in order to make themselves feel more in control of their lives, but this doesn’t actually solve the problems they’re worried about.
Themes
Aston puts on his jacket to go out to meet a man about a jigsaw he wants to buy. Davies offers to go with Aston, in case Aston doesn’t want to leave Davies alone in the room, but Aston doesn’t care and leaves Davies a set of keys. Aston then changes the subject, telling Davies about how he was sitting in a café the other day, making small talk with a woman when, suddenly, the woman placed her hand over Aston’s and asked if he’d like her to see his body, which Aston found odd. Davies says that women ask him things like this all the time.
Davies’s offer to go with Aston suggests that he assumes Aston is worried Davies will steal from him if left alone in the room. It’s almost a passive aggressive jab at Aston, implicitly accusing him of being judgmental of Davies—even though Davies, with his rudeness and deception, has given Aston reason to be wary. It’s also hypocritical of Davies to be judgmental of Aston’s weariness of him, given Davies’s own nonstop judgment of others. So, again, Davies is projecting his own shortcomings onto others instead of accepting responsibility for them. Meanwhile, Aston’s anecdote about the woman at the café suggests that he sees human intimacy as jarring, unnatural, and off-putting. Davies swift eagerness to relate to Aston’s story seems like a lie, given the play’s characterization of him as disheveled, rude, and violent. In fact, Davies has repeatedly acted high and mighty in order to convince Aston that he’s powerful and high-status, when really he is neither. Davies’s lies also speak to the potential for language to be vapid and meaningless.
Themes
Changing the subject, Aston asks Davies if he’s Welsh. Davies refuses to answer, muttering something about having “been around.” He becomes combative when Aston asks him where he was born and refuses to answer this as well. Aston shows Davies an electric heater he can use while he’s gone. Davies says he won’t use the heater but asks about the stove, which, Aston reminds him, is disconnected. Davies complains about the stove being too close to his bed, insisting that he’s worried about accidentally bumping against the gas tabs. Aston assures Davies that there’s nothing to worry about. Davies asks Aston for some money for tea, prompting Aston to remind Davies that he gave him money last night, a detail Davies claims to have forgotten.
Davies’s refusal to come clean about his past again suggests that he might not be the born-and-bred Englishman he’s purported to be, which would make his hatred toward foreigners absurd in its hypocrisy. The stove that isn’t hooked up to a gas line adds another layer of absurdity to the play, as it creates the sense that nothing in the men’s lives—from their actions to their words to the very objects that surround them—serves any purpose. Both Davies and Aston seem to fixate on objects like the stove rather than on other people—at this point in the play, they’ve both talked much more about the things that are in the room than about each other, for example. This speaks to the difficulty of communicating, forming relationships, or finding meaning in modern society. Meanwhile, it seems likely that Davies didn’t really “forget” that Aston gave him money last night but thought that he’d try to trick Aston into giving him more. In this way, he seems to view their interactions not as a potential inroad to friendship, but as transactional, which again suggests that even the most downtrodden people can still be greedy and self-interested.
Themes
Davies mentions possibly wanting to go to a café in Wembley later in the day to inquire about a job, explaining that the café owners are interested in getting rid of their foreign workers in favor of hiring Englishmen. He wishes there were a way for him to “get down there,” insinuating that he won’t actually be able to make the trip. Aston barely acknowledges Davies’s speech before leaving the room.
Davies’s remark about wanting to inquire about a job to an employer who wishes to hire Englishmen implies that Davies considers himself an Englishmen. His nationality is up for debate, however, given his wishy-washy response to Aston’s earlier question about him being Welsh. It’s possible that Davies is lying to others—and maybe even himself—about his origins in an effort to elevate his social status in a culture that is prejudiced against immigrants. Aston’s disregard of Davies’s speech suggests that he’s growing tired of the man’s hypothetical musings: why should Aston entertain plans that likely won’t come to fruition? It also underscores their struggles to communicate, as neither of them are able (or willing) to speak their true feelings or intentions.
Themes
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Once he ensures that Aston is actually gone, Davies locks the door and begins to rummage through Aston’s things, investigating the shoes Aston brought for him, a vase full of screws, and a paint bucket and brush. Davies continues to look about the room, picking up the Buddha and placing it in a drawer and remarking on the room’s cluttered state. Suddenly, he hears a key turn in the lock and the door opens. In his surprise, Davies lurches forward and stubs his toe, yelping in pain.
Davies seems more interested in the shoes now that Aston isn’t there. So, he might have been putting on a show earlier when he claimed the shoes weren’t good enough for him, perhaps wanting Aston to think his standards are higher and more refined than they really are.
Themes
Mick enters the room, silently closing the door behind him. Davies doesn’t notice Mick and continues to root around in Aston’s things. Suddenly, Mick enters into Davies’s line of sight and grabs his arm. Davies screams and a struggle ensues, with Mick forcing Davies to the floor. Mick gestures for Davies to be quiet and, once Davies stops yelling, lets him go. Mick turns and looks around the room. He walks toward Davies’s bed, uncovers it, and picks up Davies’s clothing. Next, Mick looks at the Buddha statue. Davies remains on the floor. Finally, Mick sits down in the chair, faces Davies, and, after a long pause, asks Davies what his “game” is. The light fades to black, and the curtain falls.
Mick immediately resorts to violence and physicality to confront Davies. Although Mick does seem to be under the impression that Davies is an intruder, his actions illustrate the broader tendency of the play’s characters to use physical actions before words (for example, Aston fiddling with his tools in lieu of conversing with Davies). This is further emphasized when Mick takes Davies’s clothes before he asks Davies what his “game” is—it’s as though Mick would rather play a manipulative, antagonistic game than use language to communicate with Davies. Aston seems to admire and relate to the Buddha statue, which imbues it with a certain level of significance, even if Aston can’t articulate this very well. Given his affinity for the Buddha, the statue could be read as a stand-in for Aston himself in this scene. So, when Mick examines the Buddha statue, it might symbolize Mick’s attempt connect with Aston. Mick has a key to the room, which implies that he knows Aston in some way—though it’s unclear whether they are family, roommates, or whether Mick is Aston’s landlord.
Themes
