A short dispute arises between Ubertino and William in Umberto Eco’sThe Name of the Rose about how heretics respond to torture. William argues that in torture everything returns to your mind, “as if you are being transported, not toward heaven, but toward hell.” “Under torture,” he continues, “you say not only what the inquisitor wants, but also what you imagine might please him.” Under torture, heretics tell the most absurd lies, “because it is no longer himself speaking, but his lust, the devils of his soul.”
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