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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dumb Waiter, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Anxiety and Power
Absurdism and Meaninglessness
Obedience to Authority
Conformity vs. Individuality
Summary
Analysis
The scene is a basement room with two beds positioned side by side against the back wall. Between the beds is a closed serving hatch. There’s a door that leads to the kitchen and bathroom to the left of the beds and a door that leads to a passage to their right. Ben lies on the left bed reading a newspaper. Gus is sitting on the right bed, struggling to tie his shoes. The men are dressed identically in shirts, pants, and braces (suspenders).
Gus and Ben’s matching uniforms suggest that they’re workers and perhaps are currently on the job, though the scantily furnished room offers little context as to what that job might be. Though the men are dressed identically, their actions in this opening scene imply that they’re not quite equal in status: that Ben reads a paper suggests that he is educated, competent, and refined. Gus, meanwhile, struggles to complete the basic task of tying his shoes.
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Ben silently watches as Gus finishes tying his shoelaces and then walks slowly to the left door. Then Gus stops, shakes his foot, unties his shoelace, and removes his shoe. He picks up the shoe, reaches inside, and removes a matchbox. Gus shakes the matchbox and locks eyes with Ben before continuing toward the door. But then he stops again, shakes his other foot, unties his shoelace, and removes his shoe. Inside, he finds a flattened cigarette packet. Again, he and Ben exchange a look. Then Gus puts his shoes back on and exits through the left door. Frustrated, Ben drops his paper on the bed. He stares at the door. There’s the sound of a lavatory chain being pulled, and then Gus returns to the room.
Pinter is known for the frequent pauses and silences he writes into his stage directions. There has been no dialogue between Gus and Ben thus far, and this should heighten the audience’s focus on their actions instead. Ben’s close watch over Gus presents additional evidence that Ben is Gus’s superior—it’s as though Ben is waiting for Gus to mess up so that he can reprimand him. The detail of Gus removing a matchbox from his shoe is odd, and it alerts the audience to the play’s absurdist features. That everyone—Ben, Gus, and the audience—is focused on Gus pulling the flattened (and presumably empty) matchbox from his shoe also alerts the audience to the matchbox’s potential symbolic relevance. The matchbox is thus something that’s worth paying attention to as the play progresses.
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Ben cries out, “Kaw!” Then he picks up his paper and tells Gus about a story he just read about an elderly man who couldn’t find a way to cross a traffic-congested street, so he crawled under a lorry. The lorry started moving and ran the man over. The story makes Ben want to puke, but Gus is disbelieving. They sit in silence for a beat, then Gus exits through the left door again. Someone pulls the lavatory chain, but the lavatory doesn’t flush.
Gus returns to the room. He says he has a question for Ben, but before he can ask it, Ben asks Gus what he was doing outside the room. Before Gus can answer, Ben tells Gus to make some tea, and Gus says he will. Gus sits in a chair and remarks thoughtfully on the nice crockery that “he” has set out. He plans to tell “him” that the crockery is nice. Ben reads his paper silently while Gus goes on about how nice the crockery is. Ben asks Gus why he’s so interested in plates when he's not going to eat. Gus says he has some biscuits. Then Gus, remembering the flattened cigarette packet, asks Ben if he has any cigarettes—Gus has run out. Ben says nothing.
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Gus tells Ben he hopes this job won’t take long. Then, he repeats that he has a question for Ben. Ben ignores Gus and slams his paper onto the bed. Then Ben describes another story. This one is about an eight-year-old girl who killed a cat. Gus doesn’t believe it. Ben says the girl’s brother was in the toolshed and watched his sister do it. Gus guesses that the brother actually killed the cat, and Ben agrees. With disgust, Ben remarks, “It’s enough to—” But Gus cuts Ben off to ask when “he” will contact them. Ben scolds Gus for asking so many questions. He says that “he” could contact them at “any time.”
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Gus tries to ask Ben a question again. This time, Ben lets him. Gus asks if Ben has noticed that it takes a long time for the lavatory tank to fill with water. Ben hasn’t noticed. Gus wonders what’s wrong with the tank. Ben suspects the ballcock is broken. Gus is intrigued; this has never occurred to him.
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Gus lies down on his bed and explains that he didn’t sleep well last night because the bed and blanket were uncomfortable. Then Gus looks at a picture of cricketers hanging on the wall. “The First Eleven,” he reads. Gus doesn’t know what this means. Ben asks Gus about the tea again. Gus stands and walks around the room, calling it “a dump.” The room would be better if it had a window—then they’d have a view.
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Gus complains about his and Ben’s job: they arrive in darkness, enter an unfamiliar room, sleep all day, do the job, then leave in the night. Ben thinks Gus shouldn’t complain so much, since they typically only work once a week. But Gus doesn’t like that they must wait around for hours in case they’re called. Ben says that Gus needs to find some interests. Ben, for instance, likes woodworking and model boats and so is “never idle.” He knows how to use his time wisely, and he’s ready whenever they get a call. Gus asks if Ben gets sick of it. Ben asks what Gus is talking about, then he returns to reading his paper. They hear the lavatory flush.
Gus continues to praise the nice crockery and complain about how awful the room is. Then he asks Ben, who is by now thoroughly annoyed, why Ben stopped their car in the middle of the road that morning. It was dark and misty and Gus couldn’t see anything, but he remembers that Ben was sitting up perfectly straight like he was “waiting for something.” Ben denies this. He says he only stopped because they would’ve gotten here too early.
Gus pauses. Then he asks if Ben means that “someone had to get out before” they arrived here. Gus looks at his bed. Now it makes sense that his linens looked unwashed and slept in. Ben argues that Gus has no way of knowing if the sheets were clean when they arrived. Besides, he’s slept in them all day—it could be Gus who made the sheets smell. Gus smells the sheets. He doesn’t know what he smells like, but he supposes Ben could be right.
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Gus asks Ben where they are right now. Ben says they’re in Birmingham. Gus is suddenly interested—Birmingham is the largest city in Great Britain. Plus, it’s Saturday tomorrow: they can “go and watch the Villa.” But Ben says it’s an away game. Plus, they have to come back right away and don’t have time to watch a game. “Things have tightened up,” he tells Gus.
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Gus laughs and remembers a time he saw the Villa lose a tie-breaking game. He can’t remember which team they lost to, though. He tells Ben that Ben was there, too, but Ben doesn’t remember being there. He doesn’t remember the disputed penalty, either, but when Gus describes the dispute, Ben insists that Gus is getting the details wrong. They continue to argue.
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Suddenly, an envelope slides underneath the right-side door. Gus stares at the envelope as Ben continues to talk about football. Gus points to the envelope. Ben doesn’t know what it is. They both stare at the envelope. Ben orders Gus to pick it up. Gus does. The envelope is blank. Ben orders Gus to open it. Gus opens the envelope and finds 12 matches inside. Ben orders Gus to open the door and see if anyone’s outside. Gus stares at Ben a moment, then he goes to his bed and takes a revolver out from under his pillow. He walks to the door, opens it, and peeks outside—but nobody’s there. Gus shuts the door and places the revolver back underneath his pillow. They agree that the matches will be useful, anyway, since Gus is always running out of matches.
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Gus says he can make tea now that he has matches. Ben orders him to “light the kettle.” Gus asks if Ben means he should light the gas. “Who does?” Ben asks Gus. “You do,” Gus replies. Ben assesses Gus skeptically. Ben snaps that “light the kettle” is a common saying. But Gus hasn’t heard of it. They argue back and forth and then stare at each other silently. Gus says that the expression Ben meant to say was “put on the kettle.” But Ben claims he’s never heard of that saying. Gus insists that “put on the kettle” is a common saying—his mother probably used to say it. Ben asks Gus when’s the last time he saw his mother.
Ben advises Gus to heed his advice. As “the senior partner,” Ben is only trying to look out for Gus. But Gus refuses to let the kettle issue go. In response, Ben grips Gus’s neck with both hands and shouts that the gas lights “THE KETTLE, YOU FOOL!” Ben removes his hands from Gus’s throat. Gus is silent, then he gives in and concedes that Ben is right. Ben asks why Gus hasn’t lit the kettle yet. Gus strikes a match against the flattened matchbox, but it doesn’t light. Ben stares silently as Gus strikes a match on his shoe; this time, the match lights. “Put on the bloody kettle,” Ben orders Gus. Then, realizing what he’s said, Ben slams his paper down on his bed and drops his head into his hands.
Gus exits through the left door and returns moments later, announcing that the stove is “going.” He wonders aloud “who it’ll be tonight,” then he announces that he’s been meaning to ask Ben something. “Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Ben groans as he swings his legs onto his bed. Gus walks over and sits down on Ben’s bed. Irritated, Ben asks Gus why he’s always asking so many questions. He orders Gus to be quiet and do his job. But Gus repeats his question about “who it’ll be tonight.” Ben stares at Gus in confusion and asks if Gus is feeling okay. Gus says he’s fine. Ben orders Gus to finish making the tea. Gus stands and exits silently through the left door.
Gus returns moments later and announces that the stove has gone out because they’re out of gas and have no money to feed the meter. Ben says they’ll have to wait for Wilson. Gus counters that sometimes Wilson doesn’t come by—sometimes he “just send[s] a message.” Ben says they’ll just have to have their tea later, then. He doesn’t understand why Gus is so upset. Gus explains that he likes tea “before.” Ben picks up his revolver, holds it up to the light, and begins to polish it. He tells Gus that Gus should “get ready anyway.” Gus doesn’t want to. He grumbles about not getting paid enough.
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Gus throws a tea packet into his bag. He thinks that Wilson should give them a shilling, at least, since “it’s his place,” and he should have made sure there would be enough gas to make tea. Ben guesses that Wilson only rents the place. Gus disagrees. It’s the same thing everywhere they go: “You go to this address, there’s a key there, there’s a teapot, there’s never a soul in sight.” Then Gus wonders aloud whether the walls are soundproofed, since they never hear anyone, and nobody ever complains about them being too loud.
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Gus grumbles about Wilson some more. He has lots of questions to ask Wilson but has a hard time knowing how. Changing the subject, Gus wonders aloud about “the last one[.]” Then he clarifies, explaining that he means “That girl.” Gus asks Ben how many times he’s read the paper. Ben accuses Gus of “criticising” him. He threatens to hit Gus if Gus doesn’t cut it out. “Now look here, Ben—” Gus begins, trying to reason with Ben. But Ben angrily announces that he doesn’t have to “look[] anywhere” he doesn’t want to.
Ben and Gus are silent as they sit back down on their respective beds. Gus continues to discuss the girl. She wasn’t all that pretty, Gus admits, but he still hates how much of “a mess” things became. Gus thinks that women are “A looser texture” than men. “Didn’t she spread, eh?” he asks Ben. Ben sits up in his bed and squeezes his eyes shut tight. Then Gus wonders aloud who cleans up once they leave a job. Maybe, Gus speculates, nobody cleans up at all. Ben calls Gus a “mutt.” Of course somebody cleans up after them—“They got departments for everything.”
Suddenly, a loud noise issues forth from the wall behind the beds—something is being lowered down from upstairs. The noise stops. The room is silent. Ben and Gus look at each other. Ben motions for Gus to approach the wall, and Gus does. He taps the wall with his revolver and finds that the wall is hollow. Gus puts the revolver down on his bed. Then he lifts a panel on the wall to discover a hidden serving-hatch—a dumb waiter. He pulls out a piece of paper and reads it aloud: “Two braised steak and chips. Two sago puddings. Two teas without sugar.”
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The box on which the paper arrives ascends back up through the wall. Gus thinks it’s funny that whoever is upstairs is in “such a hurry.” Ben disagrees—there’s nothing funny about any of this; cafés change ownership very quickly. Gus is surprised to learn that they’re in a café. He wonders if the café’s kitchen is downstairs, where they are. Ben says it is. He also says it’s totally normal for cafés to switch hands. It happens all the time and isn’t a big deal for the owners, who simply leave and move on with their lives. “WELL, WHO’S GOT IT NOW?” Gus asks. But before Ben can answer the question, the dumb waiter descends once more.
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Ben holds his revolver as Gus approaches the dumb waiter and draws out a piece of paper. He reads aloud, “Soup of the day. Liver and onions. Jam tart.” Gus and Ben are silent. Ben looks at the hatch but doesn’t look up. Gus places a hand on Ben’s shoulder, but Ben swats it away. Gus approaches the hatch and looks up. Ben returns the revolver to his bed and announces that they must send something up. Gus agrees. They’re happy to have agreed on a plan.
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Ben asks Gus what Gus has in his bag. Gus approaches the hatch and shouts up it, “Wait a minute!” Ben yells at Gus to stop. Gus looks inside his bag and begins to remove its contents one item at a time, naming everything as he removes it: “Biscuits. A bar of chocolate. Half a pint of milk. […] Packet of tea.” Ben asks if Gus has anything else inside the bag. Gus admits that he has one Eccles cake—he didn’t bring a second cake for Ben because he figured Ben wouldn’t want one. Ben tells Gus to send up the Eccles cake, too. Gus gets up to exit the left door, but then he stops and asks Ben if he can keep his Eccles cake if “they” don’t know they have it. “That’s not the point,” Ben says.
Gus exits and returns with the plate. Ben looks inside Gus’s bag and removes a packet of crisps. When Gus returns with the plate, Ben asks him about the crisps. He accuses Gus of “playing a dirty game.” Gus says he only eats crisps with beer and was saving the crisps until he could find some beer. Ben orders Gus to put everything on the plate. They do so, but the dumb waiter goes up before they can put the plate on it.
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Ben blames Gus for missing the dumb waiter. Gus asks what they’re supposed to do now. Ben says they’ll have to wait until the box returns. In the meantime, Gus should get ready. Gus puts on his tie and adjusts his holster. Then he pauses and asks Ben what’s happening. He points out that this place can’t be a café, since the stove only has three rings, and you can’t cook with so few rings. Agitated, Ben explains that this is why the service is so slow here.
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Just then, the dumb waiter descends. Gus approaches it and retrieves a piece of paper. He reads the paper aloud: “Macaroni Pastitsio. Ormitha Macarounada.” Ben recognizes these as Greek dishes. Gus remarks that this is “pretty high class.” Ben tells Gus to hurry and put the plate in the box before the box can ascend without it. Gus does so, shouting up the hatch: “Three McVitie and Price! One Lyons Red Label! One Smith’s Crisps! One Eccles cake! One Fruit and Nut!” Ben hands Gus the milk, which Gus then places inside the hatch. “One bottle of milk!” Gus shouts up the hatch.
Ben tells Gus he shouldn’t shout this way, but at least they’re done—for now, anyway. Ben tells Gus to get dressed, since they’re bound to be called soon. Gus puts on his waistcoat, and Ben lies down in his bed. Gus complains about the place not having any tea or biscuits. Ben accuses Gus of “getting lazy” and “slack[ing] on [the] job.” He gestures toward Gus’s gun and points out that Gus hasn’t even polished it. Gus tries to polish his revolver on his bedsheet.
Gus wonders aloud where the cook could be. He also wonders if there are additional stoves and cooks somewhere else in the building. Ben replies that of course there are other stoves and cooks—it takes a lot of effort to make an Ormitha Macarounada. Gus places his gun in his holster. Then he anxiously wonders when they’ll get out of here—isn’t it about time that Wilson gets in touch with them? After all, they’ve “never let [Wilson] down.”
Gus grumbles about having a headache. Just then, the dumb waiter descends. The sound makes Ben jump up from his bed. Gus gets up, picks up the note, and reads it aloud: “One Bamboo Shoots, Water Chestnuts, and Chicken. One Char Siu and Beansprouts.” Neither Ben nor Gus knows what to do with this latest list of demands. Gus looks at the box again and observes that they’ve sent back the tea packet, too. The returned tea bag alarms Ben. Gus suggests that it might not be tea-time. The box ascends.
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Ben returns to his bed. Urgently, he tells Gus that they had “better tell them” that they can’t fill these orders because they don’t have any food or equipment. He asks to borrow Gus’s pencil so that they can send up a note. Gus turns to look for a pencil, but then he notices a speaking-tube hanging from the wall, beside the dumb waiter. Ben says they should have used the speaking-tube instead of shouting up the hatch. Ben points out the whistle next to the tube. He tells Gus to pull out the whistle and blow into it; the noise will let the people upstairs know that they want to talk.
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Gus blows into the whistle, but there’s no sound. He shouts into the tube that they don’t have anything. Ben grabs the tube from Gus, places it to his own mouth, and speaks into it with an apologetic tone, explaining to the people upstairs that they don’t have any food left downstairs. Then he brings the tube to his ear and listens, alternatively placing the tube to his ear to listen and bringing it to his mouth to ask questions. In between speaking into the tube and listening, he explains to Gus that all the food they sent up was apparently stale or spoiled. Ben apologizes into the tube once more. Then he listens, promises to do something immediately, and places the tube back on the wall.
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Suddenly excited, Ben says that the voice upstairs told him to light the kettle. Gus reminds Ben that they can’t do this because they don’t have any gas. Anxious once more, Ben wonders what they’re supposed to do. “He wanted a cup of tea!” Ben explains. Gus scoffs. He (Gus) has been wanting tea all night; what about what he and Ben want? Ben sits on the bed and stares silently ahead. Meanwhile, Gus continues to complain that his and Ben’s “sustenance” seems not to matter to anybody. Gus bets that “he” has plenty of food upstairs—that the people upstairs are doing just fine and probably aren’t waiting around to see what he and Ben send upstairs. They’re just messing with them.
Ben interrupts Gus’s grumbling. “Time’s getting on,” he notes in a quiet, wary voice. Gus says he can’t work on an empty stomach. Exhausted, Ben tells Gus to just listen to him already. Gus relents and sits down beside Ben on Bed’s bed. Then Ben gives Gus orders, and Gus repeats the orders back to Ben. If they receive a call, Gus is to stand behind the door. If someone knocks, Gus shouldn’t answer the door. But nobody will knock on the door—they’ll just come in. When this happens, Gus will shut the door behind the man without making his presence known to the man. The man will see Ben and walk toward him. Then Ben will take out his gun. The man will freeze. Then he’ll turn around and see Gus.
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Ben frowns just then. Gus observes that Ben has left out the step where Gus takes out his gun—and he’s never left out this part before. Ben backtracks. Gus will take out his gun, Ben amends. The three of them will stare at one another, and the man won’t know what to do. Gus asks what they should do if the person who opens the door is a girl. Ben says this wouldn’t change anything.
Gus stands up, shivering, and excuses himself. He exits through the left door. Ben stays sitting upright on his bed. There’s the sound of the lavatory chain being pulled, but, once more, the lavatory fails to flush. Gus returns, looking deep in thought. He turns to Ben and asks, with fear in his voice, why “he” sent Gus and Ben matches if he knew they didn’t have any gas. Ben stares back at Gus. Then he looks up.
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Gus asks Ben who’s upstairs. Ben doesn’t answer. Instead, he urgently grabs for his paper on his bed. Gus prods Ben to answer him, but Ben shouts, “Enough!” Ben orders Gus to be quiet, but Gus, irritated now, continues to ask about the place’s owners. Ben gets up and strikes Gus on the shoulder. Gus remains unfazed. He says to Ben, “I told you who ran this place, didn’t I?” Ben strikes Gus again.
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There’s a violent tone to Gus’s voice as he asks why “he” is playing games with them when they’ve been put through so many “tests” and passed them all. Surely, they’ve shown that they’re reliable and will always get the job done.
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Gus’s rant is interrupted by the dumb waiter, which comes down the shaft behind them. Gus goes to the dumb waiter and retrieves a note. “Scampi!” he reads aloud. Then he grabs the tube, blows into the whistle, and shouts into the tube, “WE’VE GOT NOTHING LEFT! NOTHING! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Alarmed, Ben calls Gus a “maniac” and grabs the tube from him. He warns Gus to stop and then hangs the tube back on the wall.
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Ben lies down on his bed. He and Gus sit in silence. Then the dumb waiter ascends once more. After a pause, they hear the dumb waiter come down again. They look at each other. Then Ben picks up his paper. “Kaw!” he cries, then he describes the news stories like he did before. Gus lethargically tells Ben to continue, and they cycle through the same comments they made earlier. “It’s unbelievable,” Gus says. With disgust, Ben notes that the story is “enough to make you want to puke[.]”
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Ben gets up and adjusts the revolver in his holster. Gus gets up and announces that he’s going to grab a glass of water. He leaves through the left door. Then the whistle in the speaking-tube sounds. Ben gets up, takes the speaking-tube down from the wall, and places it to his ear. He listens and tells the voice that they’re “ready.” Ben places the speaking-tube back on the wall. Then, his voice urgent, he cries out for Gus. The right door opens. Ben turns, his revolver pointed at the door. Gus walks inside. His clothes have been taken from him, and his holster and revolver are gone, too. He stops, his arms at his sides, and stares at Ben. Ben stares back.
