Michal is quite a complicated character. From his opening description of "Katurian's simple minded brother" you would think him to be an easy character to understand but he has tricked even his own brother into thinking him innocent and unable to cause harm to anyone. I think Michal is actually very clever and manipulative. Although he probably doesn't realise the extent of what he's done, he still knows that it is a very bad thing to do, but justifies it to himself by blaming it on Katurian. At the start of the play MIchal seems quite sweet and almost confused abou the situation. He really shows his simple side during the first half of the scene, being very childlike in how he speaks and acts, for example talking about his "itchy arse" and being very silly and quite comical. His mood completely switches as he starts to confess to the killing of the children. He speaks of it in a sadistic, matter of fact way, pretending he has done nothing wrong and acting as if nothing has changed. This just shows that there is another side of Michal that is pshyopathic and messed up, which isn't really surprising considering his up bringing and all of the torture he endured. When Katurian starts to get angry with him Michal breaks and becomes more irate, because his brother has never spoken to him like that, and he has always expected unconditional love from him. Michal never apologises for killing the children, which is another sign of lack of empathy, he only admits to knowing it was wrong but does not seem to regret and merely describes it as "very interesting". Towards the end of the scene Michal goes back to trying to be normal with his brother, showing again his small mental capacity and inability to handle difficult situations, before eventually going to sleep and being murdered by his brother.
I think the audience will feel some form of empathy towards Michal, even considering the hideous acts he has committed, because of his past and his many childlike features which are hard to ignore.
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