One of his most recognized and acclaimed plays, Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter” is a humorous and provocative story of two hit men as they wait in a basement for their next assignment. Told through Pinter’s unmistakable wit and poignant pauses, “The Dumb Waiter” is recognized for its exceptional writing and subtle character development.

The Dumb Waiter

where do we search for meaning, particularly in our reading of literature--is it on the surface? What is the importance of a text if you have to read between the lines, so to speak, in order to gain anything from it. Several people waxed poetic on "art for art's sake" and claim that we should never make conjectures about a text--any assumptions must be made from the actual evidence in the work itself--and continued by asking why we can't just enjoy what's there, rather than analyzing everything to death? I think that strain of thought is idiotic, and it made me wonder why these people are English majors, if they don't like analyzing literature in an exhaustive fashion!   Pinter's play, though, creates a taut atmosphere--spatially, it is claustrophobic, and each movement deliberate, leading us to wonder as readers when the tightrope is going to snap. Similarly, the dialogue never falls on anything substantial, as though Gus and Ben are circling the issues at hand. That in itself is fascinating (and why we discussed the implications of "reading between the lines" in a text). The dumb waiter itself points to, I think, humanity's fascination or need to look to and obey some higher authority--Ben, in this way, is incredibly robotic. He doesn't know what the dumb waiter is, this scares him, and then he wants to follow it simply because it seems authoritative. Gus asks questions, and is perhaps punished for doing so--certainly he isn't encouraged. Very Orwellian or Atwood-esque in the sense that they warn readers that it's when you stop asking questions that "those who are they" (haha) get you, so to speak. But it's also Gus, asking questions here, who is going to pay for doing so. An interesting play in terms of looking at power politics--Gus obeys Ben, at least provisionally, and Ben in turn yields to disembodied images of power. Communication in such heirarchic situations, then, seems impossible in Pinter's view (or at least in mine).   It's also difficult to judge a play without seeing it performed, I must admit. Some things came across better when we did some reading-aloud in class--some of the intricacies made more sense or were highlighted a bit brighter. It's an interesting play, but not necessarily the easiest one to enter into. Requires multiple readings, though as it takes only 30-40 minutes to get through it, it's not too unreasonable.

Books like The Dumb Waiter

The Dumb Waiter

Cross-category suggestions