Ernesto Sábato's el túnel

To the degree that Juan Pablo Castel recreates the events leading up to María Iribarne’s murder, no fully objective rendition of these events actually occurs— Castel’s account largely riddled with digressions and rants of one kind or another. The construction of a sprawling logical framework to corroborate and justify his actions fails to gain our sympathy or understanding, and it is Sábato’s intent – the responsibility for which he conveniently absents himself – this failure transpires. For so long as reason is used by Castel to justify misdeeds, readers view these methods of justification as specious. This rational justification is the author’s illustration that any action, no matter how heinous, can be justified by our sense of reason. Hence, Castel is a cautionary tale, a soul deluded by a reliance on artificial objectivity to excuse nature’s actions.