The Pillowman

Today we decided to look more in depth at the relationships between each of the characters, so the pairs that interact with each other.

Ariel and Tapolski -
These two have what seems like a normal colleague relationship at the start of the play but as we get further along we find out that there is a lot of underlying tension. Tapolski, being a very sarcastic character, really knows how to fire Ariel up and make him angry, ultimately undermining him in front of the prisoner. I think this is him asserting his authority and just generally enjoying himself, he seems to take pleasure in other people's discomfort. They have a very volatile relationship, and they don't seem to see eye to eye in the way they handle the case, for example when Ariel is setting up torture equipment and as usual Tapolski makes a sarcastic comment and manages to get more information than Ariel anyway.

Kat and Michal -
Kat and Michal grew up depending on each other, as they had no parents from quite an early age, so have a very close brotherly relationship. Kat does everything for his brother and loves him very much, which is why it is such a shock for him to find out he isn't the innocent simplistic Michal he thought he was. As the plot evolves and the truth is revealed their relationship changes drastically. First leaving Kat in a state of shock, not really knowing how to respond to it, then as the reality sets in he is overwhelmed by disgust for his brother and hatred. Michal's lack of remorse and understanding makes the situation and I think this is when Kat gives up on him and completely drops any kind of affection for his brother.