DEATH, ABUSE AND DESTRUCTIVENESS IN KANE’S BLASTED
DEATH, ABUSE AND DESTRUCTIVENESS IN KANE’S BLASTED

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I will explore the ways in which the characters relate to theevent of death, ranging from one’s demise caused by disease to the killings involvedin war. Blasted confronts us with a compelling vision of horror and of the evils of war.Brutality and abuse taint even love and people are capable of atrocities as result ofthe emotional shock they suffered and war can compel them to cross the limits ofrationality. This paper looks at the ways in which various deaths which are portrayedin the play, apart from creating an eerie, chillingly apocalyptic atmosphere, turn itinto a forceful parable of human evil and its implications. To this end, we shall exploreissues such as destructiveness, sadism, self-esteem, boundary situations. We aim toshow that by portraying gory acts such as rapes, mutilations, killings, in a chillingatmosphere of war that irrupts so suddenly, the play envisages a dystopian universewhere even cannibalism is possible, providing an insightful portrayal of theproblematic of death.

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