On January 14, 1922, when Emma Zunz returned home from the Tarbuch & Loewenthal weaving mill, she found a letter at the far end of the entryway to her building; it had been sent from Brazil, and it informed her that her father had died. (…)
Source: Borges, Jorge Luis “Emma Zunz.” In: Jorge Luis Borges The Garden of Forking Paths. Translated by Norman Thomas di Giovanni. Open Source 2014.
Available at [🔗].
current affairs
In The New York Times article “Justice? Vengeance? You need both,” Thane Rosenbaum argues that when the legal system does not satisfy society’s thirst for vengeance, vigilante justice tends to fill the gap.
links
Thane Rosenbaum "Justice? Vengeance? You need both." New York Times, 27 July 2011. [🔗]
questions
1. Borges writes about the sailor whom Emma has sex with: “He was an instrument for Emma, as she was for him—but she was used for pleasure, while he was used for justice.” Explain.
2. Why do you think that Emma Zunz first has sex with a sailor acting as a prostitute before moving on to Loewenthal?
3. Emma’s father was falsely accused of a crime that Loewenthal committed. Emma falsely accuses Loewenthal of rape – a crime which he did not commit – to avenge her father. Do you find Emma Zunz’s actions permissible? Did Loewenthal have it coming? What other actions might Emma Zunz have undertaken?
4. The quote “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” is attributed to Ghandi. Can there ever be a proper place for vengeance, be it by individuals or by the state? Is justice merely institutionalised vengeance? Following the article “Justice? Vengeance? You need both,” are there crimes that are so heinous that only capital punishment would be a just response?