Cold-Case on Serial Killings in F.H. Batacan’s Smaller and Smaller Circles

Abstract

A killer is someone who murders at least two people in separate events that occur at different times. Pointing the killers in any gruesome killing may take a long time especially if the investigators conducting the investigation are not doing well. Even up to this time there are unsolved killings in the country and justice is elusive to serve or yet too long to achieve. This study analyzes the search for justice on the serial killing of the “novel, Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H Batacan.” Specifically, it investigates the elements of characters, symbols, and conflict. It uses Qualitative Method. The findings revealed that the attitude of the national investigators is thwarted with rivalry; identified symbols are manifestations of how the gruesome killing happened: heart, face, genitals, and knife. The conflict is man vs man in which rivalry to get career advancement is also revealed. It is concluded that national government investigators are inept to solve murder cases where the search for justice is too slow and elusive. A phenomenology study on lived experiences of the victim’s family shall further be ascertained in order to know their predicaments.