Tag Archives: bermudez

11/5/21

A Broken Watch, Broken Trust, and Police Corruption

Maria Elvira Bermudez’ short story “The Puzzle of the Broken Watch” is a reflection on corruption within the police and government states. I’m not sure if this was me being too much of an armchair detective, but I found myself ruminating over the title of this story. A police force is supposed to watch over the general population in which they preside. Is Bermudez embarking on her story by telling her readers that the police watch is broken and not functioning properly? If we are to run with this explanation, the duplicate watch in the story becomes even more interesting. The watch in the story is the clue that allows the crime to be solved, and the two watches seem to imply that there are two sides to the police force as well. There is the public side, which seems to function as intended, but really was manipulated to look as if it was effective. We can see this reflected in Ismael, a trusted family friend and respected police officer who turns out to be the murderer. Not only did he murder Rosa, but he also did it in an incredibly calculated manner. If you cannot trust the police, who can you trust? In a real world setting, I see this mirrored in the tragic murder of George Floyd in the United States. George Floyd was murdered by the very individuals who were supposed to protect him. If corruption is rampant within a government body, mistrust will permeate citizens of that country. If those who are seemingly trained to uphold the law only persist in breaking it for their own personal gain, there can be no trust.

10/7/21

The Puzzle of the Broken Watch as a frame of Mexican cultural context

The short story “The Puzzle of the Broken Watch” by María Bermúdez shows many cultural contexts through the whole development of the story. Personally, I found quite interesting the way the author starts describing the neighbourhood and the characters of the crime scene. In Mexico, those types of low class neighbourhoods are still seen in some areas, even the description of the victim´s building is quite similar to the ones seen in the country. Furthermore, the way the characters are developed and the way they mention the word “gossip”  several times  is also a symbolic representation of how latin american women are portrayed. Moreover, the fact of the murder being a police officer is a clear image of corruption. This fact in particular is very common in Latin American countries, and unfortunately, Mexico suffers from this type of corruption. I found quite interesting that the author, at the time she wrote the story, she pointed out the corruption that keeps damaging the country until the present day. The characters, specially Lupe, is also a very similar representation of how low class women are stereotyped in Mexico. Therefore, the story, followed by a very engaging plot, is a frame of cultural context during the 1940’s in Mexico; yet the socio-cultural images she portrays are still dominant in the present day.

10/7/21

All Is Not As It Seems

This weeks introduction to detective fiction brought our attention to critical writings of María Elvira Bermúdez. “The Puzzle of the Broken Watch” offers a critical view of the state, and more importantly one that criticized the deception of true intentions. This is exemplified through the character of Ismael Flores. The first mention of him is not by name, but rather is referred to as a friend that is part of the police force, who allowed the Garcías family to keep Rosa’s watch (page 8). He is then called by name when Lupe describes the confrontation at the market place, where Ismael responds to the scene, and then buys ice cream for Lupe’s daughter (page 9). He appears to be the only character not immediately singled out as a suspect for the murder. Juan, Lupe, and the boyfriend Tomás are all singled out as suspects, yet he is not. Some even has some suspicion of the child Rosita. His role as a police man leads to this early deception and facade of a good, kind, law enforcer. The status of police man grants him the ability to get away with his crime, but also grants him the aversion of suspicion from the reader’s eyes.

This aversion to suspicion showcases a critique of the same sort of corruption that is possible in not only police forces, but state power as well. This goes along with our discussions of the critique of sympathy to the state that is represented in English language detective fiction. Here Bermúdez, relies on this critique of the police to critique the genre norms of detective fiction and the presence of deception.

10/7/21

The Puzzle of a Broken System

María Bermúdez’s “The Puzzle of the Broken Watch” (1948) is an interesting piece of detective fiction in terms of its conformity to the genre norms. While the short story does adhere to the genre expectations of the ratiocination era of detective fiction, there are subtle unconventional elements that stand out as holding importance.  

This short story is immediately placed within the ratiocination sub-genre of detective fiction by introducing Miguel, the main investigator, reading. Bermúdez does also satisfy several of Borges’ rules for detective fiction, including; no more than six main characters; a temporal distance between the crime and investigation; minimal blood and gore; and a logical and plausible solution. However, after discussing Bermúdez’s academic and advocacy background, I think it is important to consider the ways that she strays from tradition and the importance of it.  

Miguel is employed to investigate the crime because the police failed to effectively serve justice and protect the public. Additionally, the murderer is a member of the police force. These two elements are important because it breaks against the genre norm of the detective working with the police to serve justice. However, it is the criminal in this story who works with the police, as a police officer, offering him protection from suspicion. I would argue that this reversal acts as a critique of police corruption; the state fails to protect its people by both actively harming innocent civilians, symbolized by Rosa’s murder, but also by ineffectively carrying out justice. The police force’s integrity is questioned and critiqued in this story, there is no glorification of the state as an instrument for serving justice.  

Bermúdez’s active participation in women’s rights also has me considering the importance of the female victim. Since the story places more importance on ‘who’ rather than ‘how’ the choice of a female as the victim seems deliberate to me, especially in this male-dominated genre. The investigation focuses quite heavily on motives and ultimately the proposed motive is jealousy. Rosa was an innocent young woman who exercised her right to say no to a man. Her murder stands out to me as a critique of the possessive nature of men and the danger women face when they exercise autonomy.  

Bermúdez breaking these norms is potentially a form of her activism. As we discussed in the interventionism section, short stories can act as powerful tools for creating an empathetic understanding of complex and harsh realities. The shocking revelation of Ismael, a police officer, as the murderer of an innocent woman, may be Bermúdez’s way of conveying a message about her society. 

10/6/21

You can not trust even those who “protect” you

This reading definitely made me feel like a detective, every time I was trying to deduce who was the real murderer of Rosa, first the husband, then the wife, the neighbors, Rosa’s boyfriend, and until the end when I realized it was the policeman, it was surprising but at the same time, it left me with the thought that it has a back story. 

I was at the edge trying to figure out why would someone kill Rosa, it never crossed my mind that the murderer would be the one that should be looking out for the killer. 

It had the typical figures in a detective short story,  multiple diversions of who the killer really is (the husband disappearing, the wife taking more time than normal in their errands, a jealous boyfriend, etc.), tons of clues laid out, a surprise ending. (A different point of view in comparison to Borges style). 

But there is one particular aspect I want to focus on, which is that the author uses this story to allude to the ongoing corruption in Mexico. In a fair and normal place, the police are the ones you go to when you need help, it’s their job to care for your wellbeing, in Mexico it’s the other way around, why would you ask someone for help when they are the first ones to commit and cover-up those crimes. Not only does the author leave us with this exciting story with an unexpected ending, but she also infers that a policeman has the power to get away with everything even murder.

10/4/21

Detectives and Devices

This weeks’ readings were so rich with literary devices I felt almost overwhelmed! One of the first things I noticed about both readings was the use of direct imagery. While Arias’s Funeral for a Bird and even Ak’abal’s poems used imagery kind of indirectly (very open to interpretation by the reader), Borges and Bermúdes explicitly describe scenes. For example, Borges describes the second scene of the crime: “the city crumbled away; the sky expanded, and now houses held less and less importance… they came to their miserable destination; a final alleyway lined with pink-coloured walls that somehow seemed to reflect the rambunctious setting of the sun” (149-150). I think what this does is make the reader so invested in every detail in the story that they can be an active participant in decoding the crime, paying attention to nuances and how they might fit into the narrative.

Another particular literary device that stood out to me (and that I had to google) was internal dialogue, the example of which is when Lönrott thinks, the house is not so large… It seems larger because of its dimness, its symmetry, its mirrors, its age, my unfamiliarity with it, and my solitude. Internal dialogue uses italics to distinguish the character’s thoughts from speech. This is the first time it is used in the entire text, and places us right in Lönrott’s head, emphasizing the fact that he was alone in this big house with nothing but his thoughts. This, for me, created suspense and a bit of fear.

One final literary device that I wanted to point out was allusion, which Death and the Compass was especially rich in. Example/Question: Red Scharlach describes how Daniel Azevedo stabbed Yarmolinsky in the chest, and says, “the movement was almost reflexive; a half century of violence had taught him that the easiest and safest way is simply to kill…” (155) I’m not sure what he’s referring to here, perhaps someone with a better knowledge of the location/context of the story can help me out!