Davies In The Play The Ego And The Id

From the above quote it can be surmised that Davies is carrying the vision of the Holocaust in his mind and his fears and obsessions are the outcome of the various torture techniques used by the Nazis over the Jews in the concentration camps during the time of Holocaust. One does feel sympathy for Davies when he is considered as an embodiment of Jewish presence. Furthermore, the last scene of the play wherein Davies tries desperately to win back Aston’s favour is certainly tragic and depressing as we know Davies is old and he needs shelter, food and work in order to survive in the world. But at the same time his scheming nature makes one feel that it is better to oust the abject creature then to risk safety and security by giving him shelter …show more content…
Davies represents id as he is driven by his instincts of survival and aggression and he knows no judgements of value or morality. Aston represents ego as he tries to fulfill the desires of id (Davies) in realistic ways. Freud states “The ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world” (The Ego and the Id 25). Likewise Aston has been treated (modified) with electric shocks in a mental hospital (external world) for being too talkative or for being driven by his instincts like id. Mick represents the super-ego which strives to act as a conscience and helps one to comprehend what is right and what is wrong. The super-ego works in contradiction to the id. In a similar fashion, Mick works against Davies. As discussed earlier Davies represents id, the pre-narcissist stage of infancy. His behavior is anti-normative as like an infant, he keeps on demanding things one after another from the mother(er) – here Aston, till the point the mother(er) refuses to fulfill the child’s demands and punishes him by driving him out of the house for being very demanding with the help of a stern father (Mick). Aston like Davies has been affected by the pathology of loneliness and abjection owing to his being …show more content…
In The Birthday Party, Stanley abjects Meg and Lulu and later on he is abjected by Goldberg and McCann. In The Caretaker Davies at first is the victim of abjection (he is maltreated by his employer) and later on, he abjects Aston (he calls him ‘nutty’ and instigates Mick against Aston). Davies’ racist obsession which finds outlet in his hatred of Negroes, Indians and Greeks is also an instance of abjection and it reflects Pinter’s concern with the basic problems of our time. Aston is abjected in the beginning by those who considered him mentally deranged or abnormal. They include his mother, the hospital authorities and later on Davies. Aston, years later, takes revenge by abjecting the woman who propositions him in a café, as she reminded him of his mother, who betrayed his trust by allowing the doctors to subject him to electric shock treatment. Aston abjects Davies when he sees through Davies’ apparently innocent moves, and finds him a schemer, and a dupe. Similarly in the play The Homecoming, Ruth is abjected by her father-in-law, Max in the beginning of the play. She is considered as a ‘whore’ and a ‘slut’ by Max . But later Ruth uses her charm and power of her body to win over her father-in-law’s heart and makes him so weak that towards the end of the play, he falls on his knees and begs for sexual favours from Ruth. That