Tension In 'The Dumb Waiter'

In The Dumb Waiter, two hired hitmen, Ben and Gus, await instructions in a basement for their next assignment. As the conversation between the two progresses, we see the juxtaposition between a man who blindly accepts his role (Ben) and another who constantly questions his own (Gus). The light-hearted banter between the two increasingly escalades into tension, while repeated mentions of the mysterious ‘Wilson’ who never appears in the play reveal the insidious nature of the organization these two men belong to. In demonstrating the oppressive and silencing nature of the characters’ existence in the play, The Dumb Waiter problematizes the panoptical power exercised by governing bodies and the way it denies individuals of autonomy and condemns them to a hollow existence. Through the
In reducing autonomous individuals to mere agents that serve a higher authority, individuals are stripped of independent thought and behavior since there will always be someone watching and telling them how to act. The environment defines the individual, since both characters are defined by the power Wilson holds over them despite the lack of any direct contact. Ben has nothing to “[complain] about” (2819) when it comes to their job, in fact his existence is largely defined by it. His conversations with Gus often revolve around how Gus should “just do it” (2824) and not be “slack on [his] job” (2829). He also does not concern himself with things that Gus questions: when Gus wonders about who clears up after them or whether or not there even is anyone who does, Ben dismisses him, stating matter-of-factly that the organization they work for has got departments for everything. Clearly, Ben has no identity beyond his job (and function) as evident from how he states that “when a call comes” (2819), which for him could be “any time” (2818), he is always “ready” (2819). Even his “interests” exist to accommodate his work by “occupy[ing]” (2819) his time when he is