Pua 1

Pua, Elyssa Marie V.

Dr. Jocelyn Martin

ENLIT 12: Global Voices and Encounters (WW)

12.10.2019

The Perpetrator and Victim in Batacan’s Smaller and Smaller Circles

Trauma that is often experienced during early childhood is a recurring element in the

biographies of most serial killers (Conroy 8). In the novel, when Alex Carlos was still in high

school, he was molested and raped by his P.E. teacher. However, the former was unable to

stand up against the latter because of the imbalance in their authority and power. In addition,

his social position made him a convenient subject of oppression for his oppressor. This abuse

then became Alex’s primary motivation for killing his victims throughout the story. The

disparity between power and resources between both characters became a tool for

maltreatment and abuse to occur. As such, my essay argues that the serial killer Alex Carlos,

can be considered as both a perpetrator and a victim during his serial killings due to the

oppression he experienced.

In the beginning of the novel, Fr. Lucero and Fr. Saenz were surveying the injuries of

a cadaver of a twelve or thirteen year old child. Unsurprisingly, during their autopsy, they

observed that the face was peeled off, the heart removed, and the genitals severed using

blades and tools. It was not the first time that the priests had encountered such pattern in

murders that had been occurring in Payatas at that time. The aforementioned types of

removals were the markings of the serial killer they were trying to apprehend, and by the end

of the novel, the serial killings were traced to Alex, the murderer. However, during the

investigations, Lucero noted that Alex’s killings were “an act of depersonalization” (76) to

both his victims and to himself. This is further proved when Lucero said that “[Alex] sees

himself as a victim, [and] sees the killings as some kind of redress” (153). Following this
 Pua 2

thinking, indeed, the perpetrator was traumatized at an early age which made him a victim of

abuse. He became the victim of his teacher who targeted him because of his social position –

young age, male, small physical built and low socioeconomic class – enabling the former to

assert his authority and rape Alex multiple times. However, due to the murders he committed,

it is not appropriate to call him a victim as he is acting under the victim syndrome. Victim

syndrome is when an individual uses “victimhood” to justify his/her acts of abuse and

manipulation of others (Longley 9). Alex would flay his victim’s face as a way to

depersonalize himself since “[h]e couldn’t stand it when [his classmates] looked at him… and

he never looked at others in the face” (299) because of the humiliation from the defilement of

his teacher and so, he’d rather not be recognized. He would also remove the genitals because

they are a reminder of what robbed him of his soul. He would choose his victims the same

way his teacher chose his victims – poor, small body frame, thin and young – in order to

release his repressed anger. To further understand Alex’s actions under the victim syndrome,

it is necessary to discuss the concept of habitus. Pierre Bourdieu defines habitus as “systems

of durable, transposable dispositions… predisposed to function as structuring structures.”

(72) This states that the habitus operates in a pre-conscious way which reflects the conditions

of the individual’s background. In relation to the story, because of Alex’s trauma, the

murders that he committed became his justification to the oppression that he experienced.

With all these said, Alex can be regarded as a perpetrator as a result from his being a victim

in the past.

In the latter part of the novel, Alex expressed his disbelief and lack of faith in the

system. He mentioned that he tried to tell other people about what happened to him, but he

was told to keep quiet instead. He realized that people like him did not matter in the eyes of

others. The metaphor of bud rots by Fr. Saenz can be used to describe the situation of the

society where the story took place. It reads: “I’ve told the head of facilities management
 Pua 3

about the bud rot on those trees. He won’t listen to me. It started with one tree now three

others are infected” (27). The head of facilities management represents the authority which

helps those in need, the bud rot is the unresolved problem within the society, while the trees

are the citizens in the story. Fr. Saenz also stated that the nature of any kind of rot is to keep

destroying the organism that feeds it until something will stop the rot. The rotting process

happened to Alex since no one was able to help him, ultimately destroying his mental health

and soundness of judgment. The novel presented many instances of why the rotting process

cannot be stopped. First, when Fr. Saenz approached NBI Director Lastimosa to help them

open the investigation of the murders, the latter said that he was a busy man and therefore do

not have time to take on another responsibility. There is also the factor of the NBI being

understaffed, underfunded and in need of upgrades in its facilities which hinder and slow

down the processing of data and cases. Secondly, the book mentioned the NBI’s issues with

integrity and trust within the organization, as well as accusations of corruption and collusion

with its criminals, resulting to its reputation as an inefficient bureau. Its staff are underpaid,

contributing to low employee morale. Thirdly, the data and crime recording of NBI is largely

inadequate due to outdated systems and algorithms that help determine patterns in crime. In

addition to this, police efforts are only extensive when the victims involve wealthy and high

ranking individuals, while ordinary people are just advised to listen to local radio and wait for

announcements. Furthermore, the investigation process is careless as seen in the part when

the NBI based the arrest of a suspect from his previous charges that were coincidental to the

murders committed in the area. Again, the lack of meticulous research and investigation is to

blame. Mentioned above are just some examples of the structures that gave way for

oppression to occur, preventing Alex and many more victims from getting the justice and due

process that they needed. Looking at the situation from the perspective of Alex, during his

childhood, it was impossible for him to get out of his socioeconomic status, alter his physical
 Pua 4

appearance or change his gender – any of which that may have helped him avoid getting

raped. Therefore, oppression can be viewed as a matter of privilege, wherein the

underprivileged are the victims of the unjust system. No matter what the lower ranks do, their

efforts will be worthless, just like running around in circles that only get smaller as privilege

grows lesser.

Alex Carlos became a murderer and victim as a result of the oppressive system that

ignored his pleas when he was traumatized. My takeaway from the novel is that the

underprivileged are the bud rots in society that need to be eliminated. However, it is

inappropriate to literally eliminate them. Instead, what can be done is to not add to the

oppressive system, but rather listen to the pleas of the oppressed like what Fr. Saenz and Fr.

Lucero did. There may be other lenses and methods as to how oppression and victimization

can be dissected, which opens future discussions on the topic. To conclude, through the

scrutinization of the murderer/victim, an analysis of the oppressive systems in society is

brought about.
 Pua 5

Works Cited

Batacan, F. H. Smaller and Smaller Circles. Soho, 2016.

Conroy, J Oliver. What Makes a Serial Killer? 10 Aug. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-

news/2018/aug/10/what-makes-a-serial-killer.

Longley, Robert. Living With a Victim Complex. 10 Nov. 2019,

https://www.thoughtco.com/victim-complex-4160276.

Nice, Richard, translator. “STRUCTURES AND THE HABITUS.” Outline of a Theory of

Practice, by Pierre Bourdieu, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1977, pp. 72–95.

Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology.