The play Death and the Maiden really brings light in
to the already previously discussed topics in class. It once again question the
relationship between confession and truth. Paulina, during her entire adult
life, has been haunted by an act that happened so long ago, by someone she
never even saw. But once her husband brings home a mysterious stranger who just
seems to want to help, his voice immediately
makers her jump into action. Could this really be her rapist?
The confession is
extremely drawn out and has many layers to it. The question is whether or not
it is true? The confession was originally meant to be put together by her
husband who simply wants her to find relief and even release from her past but
it contains details that only the rapist could know. This phenomenon really
leaves the reader questioning whether or not the confession is true. There
truly is no way to know, every reader may have a different opinion. In my
opinion, I do believe he is the rapist simply because the voice of someone who
leaves you with such psychological damage is not a voice you forget.
Alexis, I too think Miranda truly is Paulina's rapist; however, it is clear why there is such ambiguity regarding his true identity. Though the voice of a torturer is likely something the victim would never forget, it is also possible that Paulina's self and world has been so heavily destroyed by her torture that her weakened mind, desperate for justice, falsely identifies Miranda as her rapist. This play really exemplifies the self and world-destroying power of torture that Scarry describes: Paulina is a shell of the woman she was prior to her torture. She is so psychologically damaged that she cannot even bear to listen to "Death and the Maiden" because she associates it too strongly to her torture.
ReplyDeleteI think Shayna's comment above is a beautiful interpretation of the situation in which I agree with. I too think Miranda is Paulina's rapist but yet we are exposed to such a fragile character. When Gerardo mentions in the movie multiple times in which she has gotten excited when a person had touched her, or a bystander reminded him of her, she would lose it shows some instability.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, it is easy to side with Paulina and think that Miranda is the rapist. In fact, most of the evidence points toward the fact that Miranda is. including the Death and the Maiden, the quotes he uses, his smell / skin touch / voice, and the correction of small modification. However, most of the facts are based on Paulina's interpretation. As Shayna said, she might be desperate for justice and jumped into forms of perceptual biases that blinded her rational thinking. There truly are many ways to interpret the story.
ReplyDeleteI also think that he is guilty. Initially, the way he talked to Gerardo made me believe he was innocent, but his confession was indeed really layered, which threw me off. His diction is really unique, which would be hard to forget. Not only that, but he also corrected the small changes Paulina made to the story. This play really does have a lot of mind tricks, which reflects the complexity of confession. At first, we are made to believe that the captive does not have enough details to create a believable confession. However, when Paulina threatens to kill the man, he claims that his confession is false. We then see him trying to prove that his confession was a lie. In this case, his confession becomes too detailed and he ends up saying more than he was supposed to know. We also see how the mind of torturer’s work. Gerardo asks Paulina what happens if the doctor is innocent, and she says, “he’s fucked.” This is a case where the torturer creates a truth. The doctor’s confession also shows the transition of motives when one gains power over another person. In his confession, whether true or not, he says that at first, his intentions were moral, but as he continued with his job, he got lost in the thrill of having authority over someone.
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