Grey Area in Accidental Death and The Assault

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The conflict between good and evil does not always manifest itself in clear black and white terms. Sometimes in order to accomplish the greater goals for good the “good guys” must fight back in a grey area. This is the case in Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo and The Assault by Harry Mulisch. In the Assault the underground fighters cost civilian lives and use sometimes questionable methods in their attempts to rid Holland of Nazi power. In Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist the protagonist Maniac leaves the corrupt police to die after activating a bomb in the police station. Though some of these strategies are morally questionable the overall goal is to stop evil. This justifies the need to fight evil in a grey area.

The eccentric Maniac in Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of An Anarchist appears to be harmless, though eccentric until the end of Fo’s play. In the second act his playful banter begins to take shape. He agrees with the idealistic reporter Feletti that corruption must be exposed and he has just the means to do so. By disguising himself as a magistrate Maniac has coerced Pissani, the Superintendent, and the Constable to confess the murder of an anarchist and recorded it on tape. In order to fight the evils of corruption Maniac plans to expose the crime to the public so that corruption in the government may be addressed. Feletti agrees completely until Maniac tells the criminals they will not be around to see themselves torn down by the press. Maniac has armed a bomb that will kill the four men who have been handcuffed to the window frame. Feletti protests, “You can’t intend to commit slaughter in cold blood?” (Fo 71) It is at this critical juncture that the audience is confronted with its first...

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...attle between good and evil is must established in our intentions and not the means by which the ends are achieved. Truus and Maniac both seek to fight the evil regimes that murder the innocent. However, they both are guilty of murder in the name of good. The difference between them, those that they kill are not innocent. Somewhere between good and evil lies murder. It is a grey area where both sides fight that can obscure wrong from right. For Truus and Maniac they live in the grey area that allows them to become a little more like the people they fight in order to stop them. Though most would like to stay out of the grey area, it is clear from Feletti’s fate in the alternative ending of Accidental Death of an Anarchist that when you stay out of the grey area, you cannot hope to win the fight against evil. Sometimes you must fight fire with fire.

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