Töre, Karin’s father, plays a significant role in The
Virgin Spring, as his character displays the need for vengeance and forgiveness.
The latter half of the film focuses on his
character and the decisive actions he must take as a result of Karin’s death. Rene Girard’s commentary on violence and
religion can give us insight to Töre’s actions in the film. For example,
before Töre kills the men, he asks Ingeri to heat up the bath. He
retrieves birch branches and hits himself with them, then rinses himself clean.
In Violence and the Sacred, Girard writes
of primitive society’s belief that violence is contagious, and that anyone who
remains in its presence risks assuming its impurity. The idea of communicable violence presents a
need for “ritual precaution” (p. 33) for Töre, as he recognizes that by
killing the men who killed his daughter, “a violent and hostile encounter will
guarantee infection” (p. 28).
After Töre kills the men and the boy, he looks at his
hands, recognizing the gravity of his actions. He asks God for forgiveness for what
he’s done, both right after the act and again at the end of the movie.
Interestingly enough, Töre is characterized as less
devoted to Christianity than his wife: he tried to keep his wife from burning herself
out of devotion to Christ, and she later chides him for not praying enough. At
the end of the film, however, Töre boldly promises God that he will
build a church as penance for his actions. Töre’s development from casual
belief to deeper reverence happens over the course of the intensely violent
actions of the men and of his own hands. Töre’s apparent need for
forgiveness and his continual progression toward commitment to the divine as a
result of his murderous actions suggests a strong connection between religion
and violence. Girard suggests that “religion shelters us from violence just as
violence seeks shelter in religion” (p. 24). Though Töre doesn’t seem to
believe that the killings were justified under religion (indicated by the fact
that he asks for forgiveness for them), there is a strong correlation between
the acts of violence and the appeal to religion for relief.
Töre’s character and actions also reflect Girard’s
idea of private vengeance. At the end of the film, Töre says to God, “I
know no other way to make peace with myself than with my own hands.” This quotation
looks both forward and backward on Töre’s life. He plans to build a
church to make right for his deeds, but he also felt that the only way he could
find relief for his daughter’s murder was by killing the men on his own. Because
there is no judicial system which could redress the crimes of the men, Töre
had to take the reprisal into his own hands (literally). In this, Töre
embodies Girard’s statement that “only violence can put an end to violence” (p.
26). Töre’s internal struggle with the appropriate response to an act of
violence is religious in nature; his character’s simultaneous development through
violence and through religion reiterates the strong connection between the two.
Interesting post. I think it says something very intriguing about Tore's character that he performed (what I assume to be) a pagan ritual with the tree branches and water (Ingeri's presence would indicate that as well) before he exacts his revenge, and after his revenge he asks forgiveness from the Christian God and pledges to build a Christian church. Maybe this moral crisis challenged his belief system and forced him to change. As for the last paragraph, I think that quote is key to understanding a struggle that all people face in dealing with anger and evil. As humans, we get angry. But when a religious person (at least speaking from the Christian perspective) encounters anger, it must be tempered with a knowledge that your actions will ultimately be judged by divine law (which serves a similar function to political/judicial law as Girard discussed). Tore asks for forgiveness from God because he knows that murder is wrong and he knows the New Testament instruction against exacting vengeance ("Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord"). In that way, the Christian ethic functions similarly to a judicial system in that the human impulse for vengeance and violence is submitted to an impartial third party and a firmly established moral law code.
ReplyDeleteI also found Tore's character interesting. I would not say that he was necessarily portrayed as less religious than his wife though, as it was he that insisted that his daughter be woken and deliver the candles, while the mother was just going to let her sleep. I found it interesting that the father's push for his daughter to fulfill her religious duty is what led to his daughters death and, in turn, his own act of rage and sin.
ReplyDeleteCorey, very interesting commentary on the Christian belief system as an impartial third party similar to that of a judicial system. I hadn't thought of it that way in this context. I thought the family's isolation was a significant aspect of the film; it's obvious that there aren't other people they can appeal to, especially nearby law enforcement. I think in some ways that may have enabled Tore to commit the murders of the men and the boy. If he had been concerned about a physical response to his actions (in the form of police discipline or revenge of the men's family), he may not have been able to follow through with it. Instead, the system of religion is introduced, and while it's not enough to prevent him from committing the act of vengeance, the spiritual response he encounters is enough to make him feel remorse for his act and to possibly prevent future violence.
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