The Return of Martin Guerre

“My hope is to show that the adventures of three young villagers are not too many steps beyond the more common experience of their neighbors, that an imposter’s fabrication has links with more ordinary ways of creating personal identity.” 

Here, Davis states her goal for the book and admits her attitude towards Arnaud du Tilh. Davis does not condemn Arnaud du Tilh for his fraud, as evidenced by her use of the word “fabrication” instead of stronger words like “crime” or “theft.” Davis explains that with this book, she seeks to present a situation and a culture that exonerates Arnaud and normalizes his decision to take the identity and the life of another man. 

“To be accepted by the village they had to take on some Languedoc ways. Daguerre became Guerre; if Pierre had used the Basque form of his name, Betrisanz or even Petri, he now changed it. Sanxi’s wife probably continued to carry baskets of grain on her head, but she restitched her headdress and the decorations on her skirt so as to fit in with her neighbors.” 

Davis presents the ordinary ways in which ordinary people change their identities, establishing early in the text that such changes are typical of this society at this time. These observations suggest that minor fabrications like the changing of one’s own family name are actually essential to ensuring smooth interactions between the members of this society. Already, Davis is showing sympathy for Arnaud, who later in the book changes his name and identity in a much more dramatic and fraudulent fashion than the Daguerres, with a clear intent to deceive the wife of the real Martin, other Guerre family members, and all of the villagers of Artigat.