Characters Discussed
Mick
Mick, a man in his late twenties, Aston’s brother. He is the first character seen onstage in the play, although he does not speak or interact with the other characters until the end of act 1. From the outside, he tries to control the other two. When he does speak, he tends to utter either single lines or long incoherent ramblings about unseen friends and relatives, sprinkled with dozens of London place names, financial terms, and interior decorator’s phrases. He owns the derelict building in which Aston has his flat, and he has dreams of converting it into a high-class penthouse, dreams that he has no apparent means to fulfill. He has tried and failed to reconnect with Aston by giving him a home, and he hopes now that he can get to Aston through Davies. Instead, he becomes jealous of Aston’s relationship with Davies and turns his anger on them both.
Aston
Aston, a man in his late thirties. He lives alone in a run-down flat piled high with old paint buckets, boxes of screws and nails, a shopping cart, and even a detached kitchen sink. A former factory worker, he has been unemployed ever since undergoing electric shock treatments years ago. The treatments left him brain-damaged, and he endures terrible headaches. He rescues Davies from a fight and brings him to his own flat, where he offers him a bed, a bit of tobacco for his pipe, an old pair of shoes, and, eventually, a job as caretaker of the building. Aston is planning to build a wooden shed in the backyard and spends hours planning the materials and tools he will need, but clearly he will never even begin the project. Instead, he sits on his bed and pokes at a broken plug with a screwdriver to satisfy his urge to work with his hands. He is unable to stay focused on any one idea very long or to form any real human connections. He plans to complete various tasks or talk with people again after he has built his shed. Although he does not recognize his connection to his brother and to his room, they are all he has, and when Davies tries to come between Aston and Mick, Mick rejects him and clings to the security—and isolation—of his life in the flat.
Davies
Davies, an old tramp from Sidcup. He is argumentative and paranoid, seeing danger in every brown or black face and hearing a threat in every accent different from his own. When Aston rescues him from a fight with a Scot, Davies reveals that this is not the first time he has brawled with foreigners; he stoutly believes that none of these fights was in any way his fault. He worries about his papers, which he has left with a friend in Sidcup; he believes he must retrieve the papers before he can work or move on, yet he makes no effort to go after them. He fears that the junked gas stove in Aston’s flat will kill him, although it is not connected. Frequently, he awakens Aston in the night with the sounds of his dreaming. When he moves in with Aston, he is willing to help out and to assume the unspecified duties of the caretaker, but soon he becomes aggressive and demanding. When he tries to drive a wedge between the brothers, they throw him back on the street.
Characters
Last Updated August 27, 2024.
Aston
Aston, Mick's brother, is in his early thirties. He appears quite generous, evidenced by his intervention to save Davies from a potential fight and...
(This entire section contains 697 words.)
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subsequently bringing the tramp into his home. Once Davies is under his roof, Aston continues to look after him, providing tobacco, searching for suitable shoes, and even replacing Davies's stolen bag. Unlike Mick, Aston is gentle and composed, tolerating Davies's unending complaints about everything offered to him.
At the conclusion of the second act, Aston reveals the possible reason for his remarkably calm demeanor. In his youth, he was committed to a mental institution and subjected to involuntary electroshock therapy. While in the hospital, Aston relied on his mother to refuse permission for the treatments. When she did not, he tried to escape and, failing that, physically resisted the treatments, although his attempts were ultimately unsuccessful.
During the events of the play, Aston resides in his brother's house, with plans to build a shed that the audience soon realizes will never come to fruition. Initially, Aston tolerates a significant amount of abuse from Davies, who exploits Aston's admission of psychiatric treatment against him. However, Aston eventually reaches his breaking point and tells Davies he must leave. As the play concludes, Aston turns his back on Davies, who desperately pleads to stay.
Mac Davies
Davies is an elderly man who temporarily moves into Aston's room after being
rescued from a brawl. Despite being recently fired from a menial job, wearing
tattered clothes, having no money, and clearly being a tramp, Davies insists on
maintaining what he believes is his rightful status and refuses to do work he
deems beneath him. He also believes himself superior to the Blacks, Greeks, and
Poles he derides. Although Davies does express gratitude to Aston for his
kindness, he incessantly complains. Nothing Aston provides is satisfactory—the
shoes are ill-fitting, the clothes are insufficiently warm, and the room is too
drafty. Davies is also dishonest, even lying about his own name when
convenient. He frequently talks about going to Sidcup to retrieve papers
necessary for finding work, but the weather is never favorable enough. The
audience soon realizes that Davies has no intention of making the trip or
taking responsibility for himself, preferring instead to exploit others.
Davies is entirely self-centered. When Aston shares his history of mental illness, Davies shows no empathy and mocks him about his past. He tries to create friction between the brothers by criticizing Aston in an attempt to win Mick's favor. Eventually, Aston grows weary of Davies's constant complaints, criticisms, and personal attacks, and orders him to leave. Desperately, Davies pleads with Aston to reconsider, becoming a pitiable figure with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. This complexity alters the audience's perception of Davies. While he has been portrayed as cunning, deceitful, and ungrateful, he also emerges as a pathetic and impoverished old man.
Mick
Mick, Aston's brother, is in his late twenties and owns the building where the
play's events unfold. He presents himself as a successful businessman, though
his true success and actual occupation remain ambiguous. With Aston living in
his house, it appears that Mick has taken on a caretaker role for his brother
following Aston's electroshock treatments.
Unlike Aston, who quickly invites Davies into the house, Mick is much more wary. Even though Mick must have heard Aston and Davies approaching the room together at the start of the play, he physically attacks Davies when he finds him alone after Aston leaves. Mick follows this physical aggression with a barrage of repeated questions aimed at the terrified old man. In later interactions, Mick oscillates between politeness and cruelty towards Davies. Despite knowing Davies lacks relevant experience, Mick offers him a job as a caretaker, only to later accuse him of pretending to be a skilled interior decorator.
Mick's behavior towards his brother is equally inconsistent, as he alternates between criticizing and defending Aston. These frequent shifts make it hard to understand his true motivations and suggest that he may be lying at least some of the time. Mick's only moment of apparent emotional honesty occurs when he smashes Aston's Buddha statue against the gas stove.