Justice and injustice in Truffle A theme of the work Truffle is justice. Justice, or lack of justice, can be seen in the relationship between father and son, father and daughter, host and guest. Lacanian philosophy, which focuses on language and the conflict the male feels due to the disintegration of unity, can be used to look at injustice as it manifests itself in male conflict within the work. According to Lacan, a male child experiences conflict with his father, which is associated with language and therefore otherness. Once the child enters the world of language he loses his sense of unity with his mother. In Tartuffe the Father, Orgon is in conflict with his son, Damis. Damis is a reckless person who does not fully think things through before choosing a course of action, as seen when he suddenly says, "I'm going to scold [Tartuffe], I'm out of patience" (3.1 10). He verbally argues with his father, who is completely infatuated with Tartuffe's behavior, to see Tartuffe for who he is. After eavesdropping on the conversation between Elmire, Orgon's wife, and Tartuffe, Damis is convinced that he has the proof he needs to convince Orgon of his position, as indicated when he says, "And now I have proof that can' Proof incredulous that was provided to me from Heaven above" (3.4.24-25). 1 le then goes to destroy her father's vision of Tartuffe. Orgon, however, after learning that Damis caught Tartuffe while trying to seduce Elmire, immediately takes a defensive position and instead of believing his son, claims that the accusation is false and defends the stranger. saying, “Ah, deceitful boy, how dare you try / to stain his purity with such a disgusting lie?” (3.6.15-16). She scolds him:...... middle of the paper...... time as a man right before meeting Tartuffe. There is a lot of injustice in the play Tartuffe. This injustice, as well as justice triumphing, often results from the use of language for the purpose of establishing law or love. Sometimes a character acquires this language by associating with other characters, and other times in reaction to other characters' use of this language. Regardless of the source, language is a common means of expressing justice or its opposite. This language is used by the characters as a result of the conflict that a male feels as described by Lacan, which more often than not results in the expression of injustice. The expression of injustice is based on language because the male, being exposed to language, is pushed into a world of alienation and has experienced injustice since his first experience with language..