Morand the Murderer

            In the story “The Idol of the Cyclades” two archeologists Somoza and Morand both become obsessed with a woman named Teresa and an idol that they found in Greece. This obsession drives the men apart and eventually leads to the death of Somoza at the hands of Morand.

            While the statuette is literally an idol, Teresa is also pictured as a type of idol. The two men both love the idols, and they struggle for possession for them. At first glance Morand seems like the winner in the situation because he is married to Teresa, but really both men have something the other wants.

            Morand and Somoza both are extremely passionate for Teresa. When it becomes well known that Somoza is falling in love with Teresa she cuts off contact from him. Although they once had a comfortable relationship, she begins to avoid him as much as possible. This ultimately drives Somoza crazy. He is jealous of Morand and wants desperately for Teresa to choose him.  However, Morand also covets what Somoza has. Although both men found the statuette in Greece, Somoza takes possession of it and becomes completely obsessed with it. Towards the end of the story Morand tries to gain possession of the idol but Somoza declares that he will never give it to him which deeply upsets Morand.

            Finally when Somoza goes to attack Morand with a hatchet, Morand kills him in what he calls self-defense. Although Morand would say he only killed Somoza out of fear for his own life, I would argue that he wanted to kill him. Somoza was obviously insane, but his insanity effected Morand as well. The way Morand handles the death of Somoza is evidence enough that the murder was not purely self-defense. Instead of calling the police to handle the situation properly, Morand moves the dead body around, strips naked, and calmly waits for his wife to come meet him.