The figure of the finisher in La acabadora (2011) by Michela Murgia. Tradition and modernity

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the figure of the finisher, the woman who "helps" to die, embodied in the character of Bonaria Urrai in the novel La acabadora (2011), by Michela Murgia. In turn, this text will develop the conception of euthanasia in the work and the representation of the two opposing positions in relation to this practice, taking into consideration the naturalness with which the task of Bonaria is presented in Soreni, a fictional town located in the island of Sardinia, where the story takes place. Likewise, the perception of community members and the tension / coexistence of this practice with the values ​​of the Catholic religion will be analysed. At the same time, another tradition represented in the novel will be addressed: the fillus de anima, which refers to the adoption of children agreed between particulars, avoiding the intervention of the State. Taking this exposition as a starting point, the article will reflect on the modernness and the soundness of the Sardinian traditions mentioned above, as well as on the current state of the debate about “dignified death”.