I was brought to Foucault early in the story with the description of the Hotel du Nord, “that tall prism which dominates the estuary whose water is the color of the desert. To that tower (which quite glaringly unites the hateful whiteness of a hospital, the numbered divisibility of a jail, and the general appearance of a bordello)…” (148). This description projects the image of a jail – or prison – with the mention of “jail,” and also reminds me of the actual images I have seen of the Panopticon (see image) – an actual prison design - with the mention of “that tall prism” and “hateful whiteness,” which is what Foucault compared to society.
Prison Presidio Modelo, inside one of the buildings; December 2005 via Wikipedia
The Panopticon was prison designed by Jeremy Bentham. The concept of the Panopticon design is “to allow an observer to observe all prisoners without the incarcerated being able to tell whether they are being watched,” thus being controlled by an unseen controller. An example of the function of this design is that the guards could see out of their tower, but the prisoners could not see in. While observing the prisoners the guard could watch and administer punishment to prisoners who were not acting accordingly. The prisoners never knew who was watching, so to save themselves from punishment they would stay on their best behavior. In theory – because of the unknown - the guards could leave the post empty, as the prisoners were conditioned to act accordingly without knowing if they were being watched.
Jeremy Bentham described the Panopticon as "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind,” which is what we find out Red Scharlach has over Lönnrot throughout his investigation. Seeing as though we – the readers – don’t find this out until the end of the story, Red Scharlach and Borges himself have this same power over us. As in the case with Lönnrot, he is pointed in whichever direction Red Scharlach wants him to go, but he has no idea he is being manipulated. As we find out, Red Scharlach’s control over Lönnrot begins after the first murder and at the Hotel du Nord when he learns that Lönnrot is intrigued with the writing left on Yarmolinsky’s typewriter – though in the film Red Scharlach is present as the investigation begins and in the story he finds out ten days later, the former making his control more immediate.
When one is being controlled, he or she is trapped. The trap is figurative and is realized in hindsight – usually with the discovery of the controller. Borges references this idea and Foucault’s idea of, “visibility is a trap” when Lönnrot makes first his first known contact with Red Scharlach. Lönnrot makes first contact with Red Scharlach at the Villa Triste-le-Roy, which he happens upon because of Red Scharlach’s manipulation. Upon his first physical contact with Red Scharlach, Lönnrot is trapped, physically trapped when, “two fierce stocky men leaped upon him and disarmed him” (154). This physical trap of Lönnrot presented by Borges is commentary on the thoughts of Foucault that, “it is through this visibility that modern society exercises its controlling systems of power and knowledge.” The constraints of the trap are felt even further by Lönnrot as Red Scharlach explains his control over the investigation, enabling Lönnrot’s hindsight to become 20/20.
The control aspect of the trap becomes apparent and duplicates the function of the Panopticon when Red Scarlach tells Lönnrot,
I knew you would add the missing point, the point that makes a perfect rhombus, the point that fixes the place where a precise death awaits you. I have done all this, Erik Lönnrot, planned all this, in order to draw you to the solitudes of Triste-le-Roy (156).
Lönnrot has done as Red Scharlach had conditioned him to do throughout the investigation. He has acted accordingly following the invisible lead of Red Scharlach and has done just what he was supposed to do – according to the expectations of Red Scharlach.
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