The Possibility of Truth and Justice in Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden

Abstract

The paper examines the possibility of attaining justice and truth for victims of human rights abuses as represented in Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden (1991). The paper investigates the validity of the concept of transitional justice, as a national reconciliation policy, in addressing individual sufferings and stories. While analyzing the play, the paper handles certain questions: is transitional justice the appropriate tool to expose the truth and achieve the justice desired by the victims? Is the perpetrators accountability possible? Is retribution more effective if taken by the hands of the victims themselves? Can reconciliation even be possible for the victims? The paper uses theories and definitions of the concept of transitional justice as well as those of Trauma as its main framework of inquiry. The conclusion of the play is open to speculations as it is the case with most of human rights abuses and the process of justice and accountability related to them.