Suggested Prewriting Considerations

• What does Paulina's treatment of Roberto reveal about the psychological impact of political torture?
• How does Gerardo's role as a "rational" mediator complicate the justice question instead of clarifying it?
• In what ways does Dorfman intentionally withhold a clear verdict, and what thematic effect does that ambiguity create?
• Reflect on the final mirror scene: what does it indicate about the connections between victims, perpetrators, and society?

In your essay, make sure to:

Support your argument with detailed textual evidence from the play, and reflect on how Dorfman's experience as a Chilean exile influences the political and moral implications of the drama.

• Analyze how Paulina's decision to hold Roberto captive serves both as a quest for justice and an act of vengeance, and what this duality reveals about the limitations of personal justice compared to institutional justice.
• Examine how Dorfman employs the uncertainty surrounding Roberto's guilt or innocence to question both the audience's and the state's capacity to establish objective truth.
• Discuss how the play's ambiguous ending either reinforces or complicates the main argument regarding justice in transitional societies.