“Burial Rites” Messages to Readers About Truth and Justice
Though the foundation of our judicial system rests on the maxim Justice is blind’’, the question that perplexes the mind is “Does justice really stand for fairness and equality”? That people fall through the cracks of judicial system suggest that they are denied of justice. ‘Justice is for all’ but misconstrued and contorted lies, deep-set prejudices and biased thinking and beliefs render justice blind and deaf and mute. The gruesome and grotesque killing of David Dungay in 2015, at Long Bay Correctional Facility in NSW, at the hands of law enforcers yet again underpins the actuality that the constricted and biased cultural assumptions can lead to unjust social and political victimisation of an underclas. With the inquest over in 2016, justice is not served still. The judicial system and the judgement are flawed due to constricted-perception-of-right-and -wrong. The words of Agnes, the protagonist from Burial Rites, echoes a similar message of systemic judgement:
“They did not let me say what happened in my own way, …. they wrested my statement of that night and made me seem malevolent. Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own”.
A victim of unjust judgement, Agnes describes how her version of the truth would be heard and so she would not receive justice. Social and political victimisation of the underclass leads to compromised justice and judgement, but literature has the power to change a political system, change people’s perspective, and expose injustice - despite often being shackled by the conservative and biased cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs.
The 2013 novel Burial Rites depicts underprivileged and misunderstood Agnes, but with an “excellent intellect, strong knowledge and understanding of Christianity”. Agnes is hemmed in by the circumstances of her birth, personal history, gender, and her status as a servant. She is harshly misunderstood by the society because she deviates from its norms, and consequently, is an outcast. Perhaps with the “stones in her mouth” she is not able to be understood by others. She is denied justice because she is “too smart, too knowing to get caught up in this by accident”. Relating herself to ravens metaphorically, Agnes believes that ravens, maybe cruel, are wise, “And creatures should be loved for their wisdom if they cannot be loved for kindness” . Stereotyped as a wicked woman, undeserving of compassion due to her “reputation for a sharp tongue and loose skirts”, Agnes is not allowed to say what happened, “in her own way”viii and is delivered an unfair judgment due to the preconceived notion people have formed of her. “To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things”, she declares.
Burial Rites, a historical novel, depicts an ambiguous portrayal of Agnes Magnadottir, and comments on the injustice and unfairness delivered to Agnes as an outcome of prejudices or beliefs of Icelandic culture 200 years ago. The novel deconstructs the gender stereotyping prevalent in the patriarchal society through focalisation or narrative point of view. Domination of prejudices over truth is exposed by a brilliant blend of multiple narrations of Toti, Margaret, Blondal, and conflicting biased official documents with Agnes’ perception of truth. The patriarchal society of Iceland negatively portrays Agnes as “a woman loose with her emotions, and looser with her morals” because they see Agnes “has got a head on her shoulders and believe a thinking woman cannot be trusted”. Men from Agnes’ society are depicted as “dreadful birds, dressed in red breasts of silver buttons, and cooked heads and sharp mouths, looking for guiltlike berries on a bush”. The use of bird imagery associates with Blondal and the harsh patriarchal society. Blondal views Sigga as “simple-minded and young” and she is pardoned from execution. Blondal’s perspective emphasises Agnes’ wickedness as a binary opposition to Sigga’s goodness because she satisfies society’s expectation of her as a woman. The gender stereotyping of patriarchal society constructs Agnes as a femme fatale because “she was always fixed on bettering herself” and “wanted to get on above her station”. Blondal thus views Agnes’ execution as “an opportunity for the community to witness the consequences for grave misdemeanor”.
A person’s past is more denouncing than their own actions. Agnes’ reputation is tarnished similarly, by the misdeeds of her mother and as a result, the society forms a preconceived opinion and discriminates her. Kent’s crisp and powerful prose with good use of metaphors and similes help to understand the hardships of Agnes in a harsh-callous society. “Raised on a porridge of moss and poverty”, Agnes is viewed as a rebellious deviant. Consequently, her conviction for killing Natan, based on circumstantial evidence, makes the unforgiving socio-religious policies of the patriarchal society condemn Agnes as a “murderess”, and see her as a “witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving”. Agnes is rumoured to have “stabbed Natan eighteen times”xxi and “plunged the knife into his eye socket, because she always had it in her”. These speculations are a product of societal prejudice against Agnes to make her known as a malicious monster. Due to social discrimination, the truth is hidden leading to unfair delivery of justice.
The execution of Agnes is inevitable considering the prejudiced society but her revelations to Reverend Toti and Margaret changes their perception towards her. Despite Margaret’s initial reservations towards Agnes, they gradually grow closer as “two dying women”. Margaret’s repetition of “you are not a monster” and her symbolic gift of new clothes for Agnes’ execution reflects her changed perceptions. Toti, who is initially sceptical of Agnes prays “to guard his heart against the horror of this woman inspired in him” eventually develops an unbiased thinking after the discovery of real truth. We sense his solidarity when he treats Agnes as human and his reassurances that he “won’t let her go” at the time of her execution confirms that truth is important in determining a person’s character and a hidden truth cannot deliver justice. When “winter comes like a punch in the dark” so do death sentence ensnare Agnes in hatred and isolation. Agnes who has nowhere else to go “take up the wind’s howl and mimics its loneliness”. The use of pathetic fallacy demonstrates how the landscape changes reflect Agnes’ changing internal world.
Victimised by the gender stereotyping of patriarchal society and societal preconceived notions, Agnes’ truth remains hidden because “she is already a dead woman, destined for the grave”. Readers, please note: Justice is above class, gender, and any social and political policies. Just because “He that Smiteth a Man so that he die, shall surely be put to Death”, Agnes’s execution cannot be viewed as justice to reset the balance as defined by a prejudiced society. Ultimately, it is not axe but injustice that ends Agnes’ life.
The column’s epigraph quotes the final line of “Dulce et Decorum Est”. The title and the final line of the poem is from a Latin passage of Horace’s “Odes”. In contrast to the title of the poem, the speaker uses a powerful graphic imagery to depict the gory and horrendous reality of being in a war. The poem starts with a series of similes “bent double” “like old beggars,” “coughing like hags” describing the dying dignity, exhaustion and deteriorating health of the soldiers trudging through mud. The soldiers continue to march ahead though “blood-shod” suggesting feet soaked in blood which could imply a trench foot or wounded leg. The soldiers are enthralled to the trauma of war and “all went lame, all blind. Parallelism used here suggest the emptiness and unhappiness that no one can escape. The ideal maxim “Dulce et Decorum…” is counterpointed by the speaker as he depicts an abject reality of World War I. The soldiers are represented as underclass because they are victims of a systemic injustice of war. Because they are an under-class, they are exploited and treated unjustly, their deaths lied about by the motto. Dehumanizing truths of war is discovered in the poem. The speaker questions if it is justified or is the right behaviour that one should die for the country?
The poem ends with the Speaker’s didactic tone where the speaker refutes the cultural assumption propounded by Horace and condemns jingoism and war glory that urges young people to go to war. The truth being that there is no glory in dying for one’s country. It is injustice and unfair to the young souls who are lured into war filled with false hopes and dreams because a war not just destroys the body but also the soul of a soldier. Owen uses vivid imagery to conveys the grimy and dark feelings felt on the battlefield.
To summarize, while the participation and sacrifices of soldiers from World War 1 is not justified by the people who glorify the warfare, Owen desires that the future generation will not be carried away by the old lie, “Dulce et decorum Est Pro Patria mori”. On the other, “Burial Rites”, based on Kent’s speculation and interpretation of the justice, right behaviour, and truth is an attempt to let the readers know that hidden truth and societal prejudices cannot deliver justice. “It is not fair” if justice for underclass is to remain ‘Just Ice’; perhaps the power of literature will confront us to deconstruct our thoughts, beliefs, and prejudices to demand ‘fair’ justice for all.
