Violence is a deeply rooted behavior in Man. It may include any behavior that involves physical force, with or without a weapon, contributing to, or significantly increasing the possibility of injury or death of another person. Violence may be either physical or verbal. According to biologists, it is part of human nature. Man’s use of violence is similar to that of animals. In the same way, human beings, including Pinter’s characters, use violence to defend their territory (Stanley), to dominate (Ben), to avenge (Albert), to terrorize and intimidate (Goldberg, McCann and Mick) and to satisfy their appetites and desires whatever the cost may be (Max and Stanley). To put it differently, violence—especially when motivated by sexual desire as in The Homecoming-epitomizes the characters’
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His characters often act like beasts. They use violence to defend themselves, to attack intruders and sometimes they use it quite unnecessarily. In the same way, characters like Lenny, Max, Ben and Bert are potential killers. In The Homecoming, Lenny’s monologues are about his cruel assaults on a poor woman. This is his only way to impress Ruth. Lenny tried hard to establish a dominant position over Ruth by narrating two stories of aggressive behavior towards women. He tries to shock her and undermine her confidence by boasting with his familiarity with an underworld of corruption and violence. Through his bloody anecdotes, nonetheless, Lenny is trying to hide his impotence and to maintain his virility but what startles the audience is the indifference of the other characters to those violent accounts. Ruth, for example, does not react at all to Lenny’s horrible story. This indifference is further evidenced after Sam’s sudden death. Max’s first reaction to his brother’s death is the following: “A corpse? A corpse on my floor? Get him out of here! Clear him out of here!” (The Homecoming,
His characters often act like beasts. They use violence to defend themselves, to attack intruders and sometimes they use it quite unnecessarily. In the same way, characters like Lenny, Max, Ben and Bert are potential killers. In The Homecoming, Lenny’s monologues are about his cruel assaults on a poor woman. This is his only way to impress Ruth. Lenny tried hard to establish a dominant position over Ruth by narrating two stories of aggressive behavior towards women. He tries to shock her and undermine her confidence by boasting with his familiarity with an underworld of corruption and violence. Through his bloody anecdotes, nonetheless, Lenny is trying to hide his impotence and to maintain his virility but what startles the audience is the indifference of the other characters to those violent accounts. Ruth, for example, does not react at all to Lenny’s horrible story. This indifference is further evidenced after Sam’s sudden death. Max’s first reaction to his brother’s death is the following: “A corpse? A corpse on my floor? Get him out of here! Clear him out of here!” (The Homecoming,