"The Dumb Waiter seems trivial in plot and boring in its dialogue. yet, at the end, there's a sense of discomfort and even fear that cannot be easily explained or resolved." Do you agree? Discuss.
Like victimhood, violence in The Dumb Waiter is sudden, severe, and numbing. Suspense is created throughout the play by the threat of a climactic demonstration of violence against an innocent, or at least unknown, victim. As the audience awaits this display, they also witness smaller acts of violence and see how numb Ben and Gus have become to violence because of their jobs. Ben chokes Gus over the argument about saying "put on the kettle" (98); Ben flings Gus away from the dumb waiter; and Ben "slaps [Gus] hard, back-handed, across the chest" (118). In every case, this violence is perpetrated by Ben against Gus, reinforcing their power dynamic and foreshadowing the climax of the play. Interestingly, at the climax of the play, violence is actually withheld. The curtain closes with Ben's gun pointed at Gus but without a shot having been fired, leading the audience to wonder whether an act of violence would or should follow.
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