Death And The Maiden Analysis

Starting off with Paulina Salas, the protagonist of Death and the Maiden. Paulina represents all victims that had suffered torture and abduction from a past dictatorship.

Nevertheless the harsh past, Paulina is a survivor, a fighter whom seeks even the slightest chance of attaining truth and ultimate revenge.
Although Paulina was able to repress the memories all these years, she ultimately cannot accept the past.

This is evident by her declaration of “…it’s been years since I murmured even a word, I haven 't opened my mouth to even whisper a breath of what I 'm thinking, years living in terror of my own.” (p.37).

Dorfman had done portrayed the severe mental impact upon victims under tortured. For instance, the use of “murmured” and

Furthermore, the impossibility of achieving absolute transitional justice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, through his provocative intense play Death and the Maiden, Dorfman had raised upon the issues of TRANSITIONAL STRUGGLES. In which explored the perception of the term Just through the three main characters of: Paulina, Gerardo, and Roberto, accordingly representing the victim, the perpetrator, the Justice System in any country which experienced the transition period after liberate from a dictatorship.

Specifically, the personalities of characters indicate the necessities of people after dictatorship. That Dorfman creates dichotomy of role to show the different group dealing with transitional struggles, such that:
Paulina as the victim attain Revenge as a form of closure
Roberto as the perpetrator
Gerardo as Justice address struggle with acceptance developed the dichotomy of responsibilities to depict the various approaches that people strive to adopt in order to change their lives and move one

In despising the limitation of each group achieving justice, Dorfman had deliberately indicated the impossible of attaining absolute