Sgt. Simmonds
Removed from its specific time and place, the play can be interpreted very much in allegorical terms as a dire warning about the insidious effects of authoritarian fascism trickling down upon all aspects of society. At the top is the fascist figurehead who believes that the authority invested in his position by the system is actually the power itself. Sgt. Simmonds informs Constable Ross in no uncertain terms, “I’m in authority here” by which he really means he is authority rather than merely its representative. This belief of Simmonds is revealed through the allegorical structure of the play to infect the entire community.
Constable Ross
On his first day on the job Constable Ross is presented as a symbol of idealistic belief in the system. Immediately, he is set upon by Simmonds for fascist indoctrination by being taught to that the rule book is to be put aside, that certain crimes are not to be investigated, that some things are too big to be handled by the police and no offense is too great that it can’t be ignored. By the end of the day, Ross has become fully conditioned and corrupted to where he is just as bad as Simmonds.
Kenny
At first, Kenny looks like he is going to be the symbol of crime that corrupts idealistic men like Ross into becoming fascists like Simmonds, but his role in the allegorical structure turns out to be more complex. Make no mistake: Kenny is the kind of man that allow the public to look the other way as fascist displays of excessive force. And the willingness of the audience to accept the initial displays of authoritarian violence towards him is precisely the thing which invests his symbolic significance. Kenny is the sacrificial bad guy that allows fascism to expand and direct its violence even toward those who are only suspected of being a Kenny…but turn out to be innocent, after all.
Fiona
Fiona is the most tragic symbol of all. Within the allegorical structure, she represents the victim of fascism by proxy. She is not directly victimized by the police, but through their corrupt policy which is also voiced expressly by Simmonds—since he is the authority, he’ll be the to “decide what's my business”—she becomes victimized by her husband Kenny. However, she is not enough of a victim of domestic violence to qualify for Simmonds to make “his business.” Under his rule of law—not the system’s, but his own—it is not worth arresting “a wife basher if his missus is still warm.” And so until Fiona becomes a murder victim, she is destined to remain a symbol of the fascist tendency to equate being a symbol of authority with actually being the authority.
The Removalist
The very term by which the Removalist is known is the clue to his symbolic meaning. When Kenny has made the shift from being a victim of acceptably excessive police force to outright police brutality that is more difficult to accept, he pleads with the Removalist to call for help. To which the Removalist knowingly and tellingly replies that he has no intention of getting involved because, after all, police never arrest one of their own. That recusal from responsibility is the linchpin of fascism and when it successfully transfers to the public in the form of the apathy exhibited by the Removalist, it manifests as a potential threat to the entire system.
