Samenvatting

In a recent novel that received much public revulsion, Flemish writer Kristien Hemmerechts identifies with Michelle Martin, ex-wife and accomplice of the notorious criminal Marc Dutroux. To a certain extent her book is a plea for rehabilitation and re-socialization of Martin. By the wider public this ‘humanization’ is experienced as unacceptable. Nowadays re-acceptation of ex-convicts has become increasingly problematic. It seems the public would prefer to banish many ex-offenders to a desert island or a distant country. This development shows that the ethic of forgiveness has lost social influence. In this essay Hemmerechts' position is compared to that of Dostoevsky, especially with his novel Crime and Punishment in which the Gospel message of humility, charity and compassion reverberates.