Thomas R. kindly sends a response to Challenge 82, number 2, the question about symbolism in P. D. Morton’s “Justice.”
Manuel's name comes from Emmanuel a name often linked to the Messiah. So the "magick" perhaps intentionally has him live, die, and be reborn as a bringer of justice.
Despite how that sounds I'm going to avoid the literary cliche of making him a Christ figure; he's not. I think the scenario and name hints more to him being like a Latin-American peasant. A regular guy who has seen torment by tyrants and also by the riders claiming to bring justice. Despite that, the current tyrant has proven to be so horrendous he's perhaps sided with the revolutionaries, the riders. This may well be an eternal commitment. Granted this analogy has problems as the riders seem to be an ancient unchanging force for ending tyrants, not revolutionaries. Also the style is more Medieval than Magic Realist in some respects. Although the world-weariness is perhaps similar to that style.
Therefore a more literal interpretation of Manuel may work best. The information is Manuel is an old man who has seen much horror. As a child he lived in fear of it. He also went through other kinds of grieving like despair, anger, etc. As the horror of his society is unacceptable he never could move to that end stage. Indeed he seems to view death as preferable to the kind of tormented lives they lead.
He also lives in a world of magic where riding men can come in as the force of change. This isn't a conflict of good versus evil as such. There is a saying in the Analects of Confucius "repay good with good, repay evil with justice." The riders are repaying the evil of Patron with justice as they view it. I don't think they are good in any normal sense of the word. They are simply a force of nature that comes to correct an imbalance. In the end, Manuel himself becomes the bringer of Justice, a rider. There's some hope that he will be a more genuine bringer of justice for his people, but this hope seems uncertain. The ending struck me as simply him filling the role of rider, that role given to him by his father.
Copyright © 2004 by Thomas R.
Thank you very much, Tom! That’s a very thoughtful response; you set a very good example indeed.
Lest anyone be intimidated, please be reassured that the Challenges are not “homework” and no one is being graded! The Challenges are mostly story ideas, or ideas that have to do with writing stories. An idea or comment in return is quite welcome.
Copyright © 2004 by Bewildering Stories
