Essay Questions

The eyewitness testimony at the trial is a textbook example of the unreliability of such evidence. Why?

Without access to any evidence which could prove conclusively one way or the other whether the man claiming to be Martin Guerre was an imposter or not, witness recollection was essentially the only evidence available. Many trials today still turn if not exclusively on eyewitness testimony, then at least to a very significant degree. The results of the recollections recorded during the trial points very strongly to the suggestion that such “proof” may be the weakest allowed in the judicial system. To assert that the results were inclusive is to go well beyond stating the obvious. Forty-five people testified that the man claiming to be Martin was either Arnaud du Tilh or someone else but not Guerre. At least thirty others, however, sworn before court that this very same was, beyond questions, the real Martin Guerre. Most notable among the latter were four of Martin Guerre’s sisters.

What justifications does the author offer for the Guerre family being so willing to overlook the notable physical differences between the Martin who left and the Martin who supposedly had returned?

First and foremost is fundamental psychology 101: wish fulfillment. The male heir has historically always viewed as the most important offspring in any family and compounded with the Martin’s long absence, it may be quite natural that the family believed the man calling himself Martin was Martin simply because they wanted him to be. The physical differentiation also served to play a less important role because there was simply nothing with which to compare. The story takes place long before photography and despite the fact that they were financially better off than most, they did not have the disposable cash on hand to commission portraits. As a result, the only physical image of the Martin that left available for comparison were memories. All these aspects were then compounded by the Martin returning well-equipped with memories of his own that he could share. Physical imperfections inside the mind would prove to be nothing compared to shared memories of actual events.

What is the ironic connection between the departure of Martin Guerre and the return of Martin Guerre?

The only reason that there is a story about the return of a Martin Guerre who was not really Martin Guerre is that the man who really was Martin Guerre left and seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth in the first place. And just exactly why did Guerre leave his home and family? Martin stole grain from his father and within the Basque code of law, stealing—especially from a family member—was an unforgivable crime. The departure of Martin Guerre was therefore stimulated by the act of stealing. That flight from home essentially sacrificed his claim to his own inheritance. The irony, of course, is that the return of Martin Guerre was an act of thievery itself in which it was Martin Guerre’s own identity which was stolen.