Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman presents a story that has two sides. On one hand, heinous crimes violating people's human rights have been committed and one woman in particular, Paulina, is still suffering, but looking for justice and the truth. On the other hand, a new Commission is investigating the "official truth" of these human rights violations only in cases that resulted in death. This forms a problem among the characters because while Paulina is searching for her own personal truth and justice, but she's hindered by the "official truth" that the Commission and her husband, Gerardo, have set forth. The victimized Paulina only wants the torture that she endured to be recognized and rightly investigated resulting in a punishment for those that inflicted the torture. Enraged by the fact that only those who can no longer speak will receive the justice they deserve is unacceptable to Paulina. Why not investigate the human rights violations of those who still have a voice? In Paulina's mind, the truth will be brought to the surface through any means necessary because she has bore the pains of those memories long enough and deserves to see her captors brought to justice. However, Paulina corrupts her own system of justice by doing something similar to what was done to her, by holding Dr. Roberto Miranda hostage in search of retribution.
             Retribution is only given to those who have died, in the eyes of the Commission. These cases are thought to be the most serious and deserve their immediate attention. Gerardo works for the Commission and is devoted to sticking to their rules. "But there is so much we can do....We'll publish our conclusions. There will be an official report. What happened will be established objectively, so no one will ever be able to deny it..." (Dorfman 10). Gerardo has told Paulina the "official" rules to seeking retribution. He uses words like &qu...