The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
"The Pillowman" is a dark and thought-provoking play by Martin McDonagh that delves into themes of storytelling, violence, and the complexities of the human psyche. The narrative unfolds in an interrogation room where Katurian, a writer known for his disturbing short stories about children, is questioned by two detectives, Tupolski and Ariel. The play explores the relationship between Katurian and his mentally impaired brother, Michal, as they confront the consequences of Katurian's narratives, which often depict the suffering of children.
Throughout the interrogation, Katurian recounts his stories, including chilling tales like "The Little Apple Men" and "The Tale of the Town on the River," which resonate with the tragic lives of the characters involved. The play oscillates between moments of dark humor and intense emotional turmoil, highlighting the detectives' contrasting approaches to their investigation. As the plot unfolds, it becomes evident that Katurian's experiences and his stories are intertwined with his troubled past, leading to harrowing revelations about family violence and guilt.
The climax reveals Katurian’s confessions, bringing moral questions about the nature of storytelling and its impact on reality to the forefront. "The Pillowman" ultimately poses profound inquiries about creativity, trauma, and the darker sides of human nature, inviting audiences to reflect on the power of narratives and their implications in a complex world.
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Subject Terms
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
- Born: March 26, 1970
- Birthplace: London, England
First published: 2003
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Tragicomedy
Locale: Holding cells somewhere in Europe, possibly eastern Europe
Principal Characters
Katurian, a writer of disturbing short stories about children
Michal, his older brother who is slow mentally
Tupolski, a cold, uncaring detective leading the interrogation
Ariel, an emotional and often angry and violent detective
Mother, a woman who appears as a stereotypical mother and stepmother
Father, a man who appears as a stereotypical father and stepfather
The Story
The play begins in an interrogation room, where Katurian sits blindfolded on a chair. Tupolski and Ariel sit across from him with a stack of papers. They introduce themselves and remove the blindfold from Katurian, who has no idea why he has been taken.
Tupolski and Ariel take turns harassing Katurian. They ask him about his stories and what they are supposed to mean, but they refuse to answer why he has been detained. As Tupolski and Ariel oscillate between comical and menacing behavior, they bring up Katurian’s story "The Little Apple Men."
Together, the three men discuss the story, which is about a little girl who is severely mistreated by her father. She carves a number of small figures out of apples and gives them to her father, saying he should not eat them. The father does not listen and finds out that each figure had a razor blade it in. However, after the father’s death, the little girl is visited in the night by another set of apple men who accuse her of killing their brothers. They climb down her throat, and she dies.
During the telling of the story, Ariel becomes increasingly upset. At one point he knocks Katurian out of his chair, gouges his face, and then sits him back upright. The detectives explain that they are holding Katurian’s brother, Michal, down the hall. When Ariel leaves the room, Tupolski and Katurian have a more rational discussion about major themes within his short stories and why all the stories involve children being hurt.
Katurian brings up his story, "The Tale of the Town on the River," which he believes is his best work. Tupolski has him read the entire story aloud. It is about a boy who is nice to a stranger, but after the kindness, the stranger cuts off the boy’s toes. The town is Hamelin. By losing his toes, the boy cannot keep up with the other children and is saved from being taken by the Pied Piper.
Meanwhile, the screams of Michal can be heard, and a few minutes later Ariel returns wrapping his bloody hand with a cloth. Katurian pleads for his brother’s safety, which angers the detectives and leads them to bring up two names: the young victims that were killed in the same way as the children in the two stories they discussed. There is also another girl who has recently gone missing. The detectives press Katurian, telling him Michal has already confessed.
The main action of the play is broken up by a story told by Katurian. When he was a boy, his room had a door with a lock on it. Nothing happened behind this door until Katurian’s seventh birthday when he started to hear the sounds of electrical tools and muffled screams. He is told it is only his imagination, but for seven years he endures the sounds and begins to write short stories. Finally, on his fourteenth birthday, Katurian finds out that he has won a literary contest; also, his parents reveal they had put on a show so he would become a great writer. However, he did have a brother who was tortured, but alive, and suffered from severe brain damage. In retribution, Katurian smothered both of his parents in their sleep.
Act two begins in Michal’s interrogation cell as he tries to tell himself the story of the green pig. After a few minutes, Katurian is thrown in the cell with Michal. Michal asks him to tell the story of the Pillowman, a nine-foot-tall man made out of pillows. The Pillowman will help an adult who is about to commit suicide by going back in time and convincing the child version of that adult to die in a horrible accident in order to spare a lifetime of suffering.
After the story, the brothers then begin talking about the murders, and Michal confesses to them. He claims that he killed the missing girl in the manner of the story "The Little Jesus." Michal then becomes tired and asks Katurian to tell him the tale of the green pig so that he can fall asleep. Michal lies down, and Katurian tells the story of a pig that was born green. Although he enjoyed being green, no one liked that he was different, so one day he was painted pink with paint that could not be painted over. However, that night, a strange rainstorm came and dyed all the pigs green; because the green pig had been painted, he was the only one to stay pink. Michal falls asleep, and Katurian grabs a pillow and kills him.
Act three begins with Katurian’s confession of the murder of the three children, his parents, and his brother Michal. He admits that he killed the missing girl with his brother in the manner of the story "The Little Jesus." Ariel takes the confession to his commander. Eventually, Ariel comes back in the room confused. A small girl follows him in; she is painted green and was found in a house with a number of piglets. At this point, Tupolski asks Katurian about details of the other two crime scenes, which he gets wrong. However, Katurian is still guilty of three murders, and so after the girl leaves, Tupolski shoots Katurian in the head.
Bibliography
Brantley, Ben. "A Storytelling Instinct Revels in Horror’s Fun." New York Times. New York Times, 11 Apr. 2005. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/theater/reviews/11pill.html?pagewanted=1>.
Butler, Thomas. "A Story’s Place in the World: Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Pillowman.’" Explicator 71.1 (2012): 31–34. Print.
Cody, Gabrielle, and Evert Sprinchorn, eds. "The Pillowman." The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. Vol. 2. New York: Columbia UP, 2007. 1062. Print.
Dziemianowicz, Stefan. "Martin McDonagh." Critical Survey of Drama.2nd rev ed. Pasadena: Salem, 2003. Print.
Russell, Richard R., ed. Martin McDonagh: A Casebook. London: Routledge, 2007. Print.