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istorturedandmutilatedbyJollandwhomtheMagistratetakes
intohiscarewhenthesecurityforceshavegonebacktothecapi-
tal.whydoeshedoit?Heinsiststhatheisnotabletoexplain
himselfinthisrespect,butonecansurmisethathisreason(orat
leastoneofthem)isguilt:asheallowedtorturetohappenunder
hisjurisdiction,hisliberalconscienceseeksnowforsomekindof
expiationforhishavinglackedthewilltopreventtheatrocities.
YettheMagistrate’sattachmenttothegirlismuchmoreambigu-
ous–hebecomesfascinatedbyher,butthisfascinationhasnoth-
ingtodowithherbeingtheculturalother,thatis,withherbeing
assheusedtobebeforeshewasbroughttothefort;heisnot
interestedinherasabarbarian(thebarbariansareKprimitives”
whoareuninterestingtoaculturedpatrician,theyareKdestitute
tribespeople”(4)andwhenhepartswiththegirlherealisesthat
hehasnoteventriedtolearnherlanguage(72)),butasaKwork”
ofJoll–whatdrawshimtoherisherKaltered”state.what,how-
ever,issofascinatingaboutadeformedandmutilatedbody3for
theMagistratewhoseattitudetolifeismarkedlyaestheticinhis
melancholypursuitofbeautyandharmonyintheworld?
Hefindsamessageinscribedinthebodyofthegirl,amessage
whosemeaninghehastodecipher:KIthasbeengrowingmoreand
morecleartomethatuntilthemarksonthegirl’sbodyaredeci-
pheredandunderstoodIcannotletgoofher”(31).FortheMagistrate,
thereisatruthinscribedinherbody,whichdemandstobeuncov-
eredandunderstoodandwhosemasterisJollwho,atthebeginning
ofthenovel,isintroducedbytheMagistratepreciselyinsuchterms:
KThisgentlemanisvisitingusfromthecapital.[ł]Hisworkisto
findoutthetruth.Thatisallhedoes”(3).AndJollisquiteexplicit
aboutithimself:KFirstIgetlies[ł]thenpressure,thenmorelies,
thenmorepressure,thenthebreak,thenmorepressure,thenthe
truth.Thisishowyougetthetruth”(5).
TheMagistrateattemptstofindoutthistruth,whichheconceives
asthetruthofthevictim,byaskingthebarbariangirlquestions
aboutwhatexactlyhappenedtoherbehindthecloseddoorsofthe
torturechamberand,evenmoreimportantly,abouthowsuchanex-
perienceinfluencedherself(Kwhatdoyoufeeltowardsthemenwho
didthis?”(41)).Inotherwords,hetriestopenetratethroughtheob-
scuresurfaceofthebodymarkedwithenigmaticsignsandfindKper-
sonal”meaningforthemintheinteriorityofthevictim.Thiseffort,
3
Duringhertorturethegirl’sanklesarebrokenandsheisvirtuallyblinded
byhotmetalbroughtclosetohereyes.
~20~
