Psychoanalytic Criticism of Prosper Mérimée "Mateo Falcone"

Exploiting one's inner nexus

Edward Abbey once said, “Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Of course, people with guns kill more people. But that's only natural. It's hard. But it's fair.” This quote would lead the readers to the tragedy of the story Mateo Falcone by Prosper Mérimée.

In the story, Mateo Falcone is known as a dangerous enemy, for he was extremely skilled with a gun, and a staunch friend for he protected those who asks. He thought that his only son, Fortunato Falcone, would do the same and would follow his league. However, it was the other way around. Fortunato betrayed Gianetto for the sake of having the silver watch that the adjutant offered as a reward for telling where he hides Gianetto. As a result, Mateo killed his own son for the treachery that his son committed against Gianetto, and against him.

The theme of the story is treachery and getting justice for betraying. Betrayal has the aftermath of pain which would lead to killing, as the worst outcome of it, not to mention no one can escape the pain it leaves. In the case of Mateo Falcone, he was betrayed by his son for what he thought, believed, and trusted is deemed incorrect, which causes his anger and killed his son. Gina Scott stated on his blog about Psychological Effects of Betrayal, 

“When going through your own betrayal, you can experience many related emotions; shock, anger, grief, isolation, sadness/depression.” 

With all these psychological effects, one thing is for sure for Mateo, he wanted to kill his son and so he did. However, he wasn’t able to consider Fortunato's side because he stands for what he believes. In the case of Fortunato, he was still a ten-year-old boy. Children at this age still seek happiness on material stuff but at the same time, they face growing pressure to be responsible and trustworthy, as Army Morin stated on her blog about child development in regards to the psychological growth of a ten-year-old child, 

“Being 10 is all about change. It is a period of transition that can offer challenges and delights as children start to embrace the approach of adolescence.” 

That is why, children at this age are sometimes confused about what to do, which on the other hand, had been taken advantage of by adults to easily fool them by offering things which they like, as what adjutant did to Fortunato. In addition, the act of Giuseppa, the wife of Mateo, was also alarming in the story for she let her husband took her son knowing that she has an idea of what will happen, though she tried to stop Mateo it wasn’t enough for him. She seems like she’s also afraid of Mateo, as much as his son is afraid of him. To someone in chronic fear, the world looks scary and their memories confirm it, which leads to freezing, and unable to exert so much force or energy to resist someone, as Theo Tsaousides Ph.D. stated that “Actions motivated by fear fall into four types—freeze, fight, flight, or fright.” 

This story reminds the reader how important to understand the psychological development of a person to prevent the worst possibilities. The ability to understand others leads us to the truth about what they truly felt in a certain situation, and it also allows us to know what to react to.