Symbolism
The use of the parrilla has declined in many places where it was once common. In Chile it is no longer used, but its reputation survives. It appears to have been one of the most feared of all the methods of torture, possibly because many prisoners suffered it and it suited the authorities to make no secret of its widespread use. As a result, it has achieved an almost legendary status. For example, the former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, has been asked in interviews about her own torture as a young woman in 1975. She says she was 'spared the parrilla', so indicating in a single phrase that in her opinion her tortures were less severe than those of many of her fellow Chileans.
Read more about this topic: Parrilla (torture)
Famous quotes containing the word symbolism:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)