In The Virgin Spring, the rape and murder of Karin by the herdsman ultimately serves as a catalyst for Ingeri's spiritual growth, Tore's revenge and their sign from God in the form of a spring. But despite the fact that her death serves as a turning point in the story, there is still the question of whether or not it would really be considered a sacrifice.
If we consider it from the Girard's view of sacrifice, which involves killing something sacred, Karin's death could be represented as a sacrifice. Throughout the beginning of the film, she's depicted as someone who is pure and uncorrupted with one of her main character traits being that she is a virgin. But through being raped, she has this sacred quality taken away from her (which in turns makes her profane, but that's separate topic), which certainly sounds like a sacrifice of some kind. However, according to Girard's view that the sacrifice protects the community from it's own violence, this may not qualify as a sacrifice because those doing the killing are in no way associated with the community that see's Karin as someone sacred. In addition, the killing of Karin actually leads to even more violence as Tore flogs himself (which seems like a separate, clearer form of self sacrifice) as a way of repenting to God for his eventually murder of the three herdsmen. So essentially, the rape and murder of Karin doesn't quite fit in to Girard's definition of what constitutes a sacrifice.
However, if we are looking at her death from the context of the movie and what it's trying to say, I feel like Bergman wants us to think of it as a sacrifice. The end of the film where Tore, engulfed by despair, cries out to God asking why he would allow his daughters death to happen while promising to build a church at that site feels very similar to religious stories where a community builds an alter in a place they deemed 'holy'. His plan to honor his daughter takes on even more meaning when they lift up her body and a spring forms where she had died. The killing of Karin had made that place 'sacred' in a way that was physically represented by the spring that forms. Through her death and the emergence of the spring, the entire community comes together as Ingeri confesses her feelings to Tore and later washes in the water of the spring. So while Karin's death may not have been a sacrifice in that the community didn't choose to let her die, the fact that they gave her up to God and made something sacred out of it makes it a sacrifice in my eyes.
I certainly believe that Karin is a meaningful sacrifice. I feel like Bergman would not have emphasized her purity and sacredness if he did not intend for her death to be meaningful. It is very interesting that Bergman had Karin die on Good Friday, the day that Jesus suffered and died. She was on a mission for God to take the candles to the church just like Jesus was on a mission to sacrifice himself to deliver God's people Although she may not be considered a true sacrifice by Girard's standards, I feel like there is a lot of evidence in the film that argues in favor of her sacrificial death.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I also had trouble originally deciding if Karin was a sacrifice. I read the discussion questions and the Girard chapter before watching the movie and didn't see the sacrifice right away as it was described in the questions and reading. After pondering it for a while, I started to see Karin's death as a sacrifice for the other characters. Without her dying, Tore would never have wanted to build a big church and Ingeri would have never had the spiritual change she did. So I saw Karin's death as more of an abstract sacrifice. Also Emily, I like that you noticed the correlation between Karin and Jesus, I didn't think about that. That kind of goes along with what I said about her death being for the other characters, Jesus' death was a sacrifice for the better of others as well.
ReplyDeleteI think it the notion of Karin's death as a sacrifice is a good topic of conversation, as Girard's writing may not qualify it as such. Karin's death did exactly the opposite of what Girard's concept of sacrifice is supposed to accomplish--her death caused more upheaval within the community. I definitely think that Bergman intended Karin to be looked at as a sacred and important character, and her brutal murder resonates with the audience. Also as Emily her pilgrimage parallels the journey of Jesus--who was also sacrificed for a greater good. I do think that Girard's writing gives a different perspective to the film by not qualifying Karin's death as a sacrifice. Rather, the death of the boy seems to fit the standards of Girard's definition much better, as his death prompted Karin's father to realize his actions.
ReplyDeleteIn my eyes, Karin was most definitely a sacrifice. You stated that the herdsmen were not a part of the community that saw her as sacred. In a sense I disagree. For one, the herdsmen easily spotted her innocence; they new that she was someone that they could take of complete advantage. During their encounter, she even stated that her mission was to take the candles to "the church". One of the herdsmen replied, "Early mass?" Being that the herdsmen know what "the church" is and what occurs at the church shows that they (the herdsmen and Karin) are part of one society. Even the simple fact that the herdsmen are in Karin's path of travel shows that they are of one "community." The represented community does not necessarily have to be the farm where Karin lived; it could be more widespread. Reflect on the fact that Tore "heard" it had been a harsh season for the herdsmen that were from up north. This further represents community. To put things into perspective, Baton Rouge and New Orleans are two separate communities, but together they are part of a larger community -Louisiana.
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