“Ruth: Have a sip. Go on. Have a sip from my glass.”
From this comment she could easily just be offering a sip of her drink but by the second half of the play the iceberg peaks and you see what she was really meaning.
“RUTH stands. They dance, slowly.
TEDDY stands, with RUTH’s coat.
MAX and JOEY come in the front door and into the room.
They stand.
LENNY kisses RUTH. They stand, kissing.”
This is also showing the language being used to inflict pain on stage as although Teddy and Ruth have an extremely strange and dysfunctional relationship, he is still her husband and must cause some kind of hurtful emotion to see her with Lenny as if it normal.
“Max: You want to kiss your old father? Want a cuddle with your old father?”
Here as an example, Max is not really talking about expressing love through kissing and cuddling as this is in no way his character. It is in fact the opposite as he is implying exactly what he was when he and Lenny where talking about “tucking up”. These are examples of the language being untrustworthy. Also in all of these examples the topic of conversation is very sinister and they are directed at people purposely to cause them pain.
Another type of language used by Pinter is the language of aggression.
“Lenny: Plug it, will you, you stupid sod, I’m trying to read the paper.
Max: Listen! I’ll chop your spine off, you talk to me like that! You understand? Talking to your lousy filthy father like that!”
“Max: We’ve had a smelly scrubber in my house all night. We’ve had a stinking pox-ridden slut in my house all night.”
These are just two examples but the aggressive language is used constantly throughout the play.
There is a lot of symbolism used in the language throughout the play-
“Lenny: (to TEDDY) Your cigar’s gone out.
Teddy: Oh, yes.
Lenny: Want a light?
Teddy: No. No
Pause
So has yours.”
The cigar going out is symbolising both of their impotence. The use of this symbolism is an easy way for Lenny to make a painful comment towards his brother and then for Teddy to say it right back again. This technique is used a fair amount throughout the whole play, and never is it someone implying something nice to the other.
“Max: I worked as a butcher all my life, using the chopper and the slab, the slab, you know what I mean, the chopper and the slab!”
This is another example of symbolism is the language as Max is not really talking about a “chopper and slab”. Another technique that is used here is the use of repetition. This is used quite a lot throughout “The Homecoming” and adds weight to what someone is saying and helps get their point across –
“Max: But I think you’re concentrating too much on the economic considerations. There are other considerations. There are human considerations. You understand what I mean? There are the human considerations.”
The repetition of the word “considerations” really makes sure that what he saying is heard.
There are various registers of language used throughout “The homecoming”. One of the different grammatical vocabulary accents used is common and slang language.
“Max: Even though it made me sick just to look at her rotten stinking face, she wasn’t such a bad bitch. I gave her the best bleeding years of my life, anyway.”
Another register is that of formal and academic language. This is quite rarely used but it does occur at some points.
“Lenny: Well I want to ask you something. Do you detect a certain logical incoherence in the central affirmations of Christian theism?
Teddy: That question doesn’t fall within my province.”
It reveals quite a lot about the play by the fact that one of the only times formal and academic language is used; it is in a way to catch someone out and belittle them.
Business language is also present as some points throughout “The homecoming”.
“Lenny: I’ve got very distinguished clientele, Joey. They’re more distinguished than you’ll ever be.
Max: So you can count yourself lucky we’re including you in.”
Just as that the formal and academic language was only really used in a cruel way, this business vocabulary is discussing putting someone on “the game”, which is obviously not a nice topic.
The accents of each character is not specified in the script but it is said that they are in North London, and after reading the play you can get what kind of class they most likely have quite a common North London accent. Teddy and Ruth however probably speak slightly better than the rest of the family.
There is also some biblical language used throughout the play. One of which is Ruth’s name. Ruth was a biblical character who ends up in an unfamiliar place and this is exactly what happens to her in “The Homecoming”. Another example is actually said in the dialogue.
“Max: You’re not only lovely and beautiful, but you’re kin. You’re kith. You belong here.”
