Page 129 [129]
CREATION OF CRUELTY
(an important analogy with Marthas disclosure of the child) — is a desperate
attempt to escape from reality’s grasp: a retreat to the comforting solitude of
the bathroom, finding safe haven on the cool floor.
“The patterns of history” — says George in closing, seeing the parallels
between the first and second games. But it is important to point out that de¬
spite the similarities, there is still a significant difference between Humiliate
the Host and Get the Guests, which can be best attributed to George’s next
statement: “I hate hypocrisy.” Following that, it can be stated that the second
game was primarily aimed at destroying hypocrisy, whereas this does not apply
to the first one, since George did not deceive others (his lie — the child — was
a secret). While in both cases there is a confrontation of the self, Martha was
not morally motivated in Humiliate the Host to humiliate her husband, while
George, having reached the liminal state, was deliberately trying to destroy
the falsities of his guests.
At this point it is important to note that, despite the above considerations,
the catalyst of the confrontation, if not entirely consciously, is still Martha,
thus answering the question of why she decides to break the system-forming
rule, which is the complete silence about their child, on this particular night.
MARTHA You know what’s happened, George? You want to know what’s really
happened? (Snaps her fingers) It’s snapped, finally. Not me ... it. The
whole arrangement. [...] SNAP! It went snap tonight at Daddy’s party.
(Dripping contempt, but there is fury and loss under it) [...] And I sat
there and I watched you, and you weren’t there! And it snapped! It
finally snapped! And I’m going to howl it out, and I’m not going to
give a damn what I do, and I’m going to make the damned biggest
explosion you ever heard.
Martha’s quoted revelation shows its life-changing nature, which revolves
around the recognition of the unsustainability of the earlier structure and
the inability to maintain its appearance. However, Martha’s bitterness stems
from her husband’s overall person (the emptiness of their relationship and the
resulting alienation), and Humiliate the Host is an expression of this despera¬
tion, wherein the transgression of rules constitutes a means of humiliating
George and, hence, cannot be regarded as conscious disruption of the system.
In light of the foregoing, the disruption of the earlier structure can thus be
attributed to George’s figure — “cruelty cannot exist without consciousness
16 Tbid., 148.
7 Ibid.
18 Ibid., 156—158.
e 127 "