role of songs

Azdak is primarily a truth figure, and thus the Penance serves as a representation of his telling the truth. The brilliance behind his confession is the way he does it: all the soldiers ignore him and think that he is a fool. Even when he sings them a song against war, he gets away with it by claiming the song was taught to him by his grandfather. And in front of the Fat Prince, Azdak directly blames the war on the princes, but again instead of being punished he is rewarded. His truthfulness is revealed through the way he takes bribes; he is bribed publicly so that all can see rather than secretly.