SERXHA (KOLAJ) GJINAJ
DOI:
Abstract
After reading and studying the novel L’esclusa by Luigi Pirandello, it becomes clear why the author titled the work “The Outcast”: Marta, the protagonist, is rejected by society at every level, including by the institution of the Church, which theoretically represents mercy, forgiveness, and spiritual peace. For this reason, this study analyzes the role of the Church and the confessional in the novel, considering them not merely as religious spaces, but as mechanisms of social control and judgment. The analysis demonstrates that the Church assumes a markedly different role – that of hypocrisy – by nurturing and legitimizing collective prejudice and by transforming itself from a place of salvation into a tool of exclusion. As both a physical and symbolic space, the Church does not serve merely as a narrative backdrop, but as an authority that directly influences the fate of the individual and reinforces Marta’s isolation. However, a fundamental question arises: if the Church represents collective judgment and exclusion, why does Pirandello choose its bells as the medium through which to articulate a call for collective change?
Keywords: religious buildings, hypocrisy, prejudice, exclusion.