In The Birthday Party, as in many other Pinter plays, language manages to defy its role as a vehicle for communication. What is conveyed between characters is very often detached almost entirely from the actual words that are spoken by them. Pinter takes the language of everyday mundane speech, and then parodies it, making a seemingly domestic drama into something much more sinister and humorous. Pinter gives his actors an extraordinary degree of potential to convey various nuances in sound and delivery of lines, thus giving a great wealth of interpretations when seen on stage. The sparing economy and apparent naturalism of the language are used to generate humour, as well as the uneasy ambiguity of the language which is an essential aspect of the menace that underlies the play. .
In Act II of The Birthday Party we see the interrogation scene, as Goldberg and McCann bombard Stanley with quick fire questions, eventually reducing him to quivering inarticulacy.
The grilling interview begins after an absurd yet threatening power struggle over sitting. Once the three men are sat, the scene segues into a barrage of nonsensical enquiries from Goldberg and McCann. Initially the questions seem quite affable and conventional: "Webber, what were you doing yesterday?- These civilised questions seem like casual conversation, however from the pages leading up to this point we know that there is a menacing undercurrent in Goldberg and McCann's manner.
Pinter soon descends Goldberg and McCann's seemingly coherent questions into a baffling diatribe against Stanley. They accuse him of wasting everyone's time and treating those around him with disdain. Stanley can only give short, perplexed answers. .
The line of questioning quickly becomes ludicrous; on the subject of headache fruit salts Goldberg demands "Did they fizz? Did they fizz or didn't they fizz?- These questions are designed to confound Stanley and gradually wear away his mental defences.
