Ficciones Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part Two, Artifices, Theme of the Traitor and Hero Summary

Part Two, Artifices, Theme of the Traitor and Hero Summary

Ryan, the great grandson of Fergus Kilpatrick, is researching his grandfather's assassination when he comes across several coincidences that cause him to begin wondering about the truth of his grandfather's death. The first is the fact that Kilpatrick's death took place in a theatre, just like Lincoln's. The second is that Kilpatrick's death remains unsolved, leaving many to believe the police purposely overlooked the true killers. It seems to Ryan that many facets of Kilpatrick's assassination imitate those of other famous murders, including that of Julius Caesar as described in the famous Shakespearian play.

Ryan learns that Kilpatrick charged a friend, James Alexander Nolan, with the task of finding a traitor and a few days later signed the death warrant of this traitor, but the name was blacked out. Ryan believes the traitor was Kilpatrick himself and that he and Nolan conspired to dramatize Kilpatrick's death in order...
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