On a most basic level, "Emma Zunz" has been classified as a "cuento policíaco" in which a young and innocent girl plans and carries out a "perfect" crime of murder in order to avenge her father's death. Its most obvious theme, therefore, is vengeance…. (p. 100)

[There] has been a tendency to consider "Emma Zunz" a typically Borgesian metaphor in which characterization is, to a degree, subordinated to the fictionalization of an abstract concept….

A natural consequence of such a view is the ignoring of the basic ambiguity in Emma's motivation and its thematic implications. Although it is generally assumed that the protagonist acts out of a desire to seek retribution for Loewenthal's part in her father's death, it has been hypothesized that "Loewenthal probably dies without knowing why Emma killed him, but then there is no one single, exact explanation as to why she did…." [A] solution to this incongruity can be found in an examination of the psychological factors alluded to in the story which may well underly Emma Zunz's actions. Such an approach reveals that the author's portrayal of his protagonist goes beyond that of a "shy, non-descript girl," and that her killing of Loewenthal has a motivation more complex than the mere desire for vengeance. In fact, the latter appears to be a symptom or manifestation of a neurotic love-hate conflict, with incestuous overtones, that characterizes Emma's relationship with her father. (p. 101)

In "Emma Zunz," textual evidence points to the sexual nature of Emma's neurosis and links it to her father. For example, in describing the moment she prostitutes herself to the sailor, Borges makes reference to Emma's noting the similarity between a diamond window in the building where she finds herself and those of the family home…. More important, in the following indirect interior monologue, which occurs at the moment of her submission to the sailor, Emma's sado-masochistic view of the sex act is related to her father…. [Her] pathological fear of men juxtaposed with the timing and nature of these two associations with her father, and in the context of what later transpires in the story, is suggestive of an incestuous element in the girl's unconscious feelings toward him….

It is within this psychological composite that Emma's reaction to the news of her father's death must be viewed, for it is that event which brings her into direct, though unconscious, confrontation with her neurosis. (pp. 101-02).

Even had Maier's death been a suicide, Emma has no immediate reason to attribute it to Loewenthal. Her knowledge of the latter's role in her father's ruination is limited to that of the details of the secret and its consequences on the family. Yet, as previously stated, these events took place some six years earlier, and no mention is made of any prior desire or effort on Emma's part to avenge Loewenthal's complicity in them.

The protagonist's inaction, however, is consistent with Borges' portrayal of her. To have sought vengeance would have required a level of affection for her father which Emma does not demonstrate in the story and of which the author gives no testimony. But when confronted with his death, the girl's guilt and anxiety lead to a defense reaction that involves an unconscious process of reconciliation with him. In that process, her ambivalent feelings are symbolically expressed, both through her contact with the sailor and with Loewenthal. Initially, Emma must avenge her father in order to fulfill the psychological need to express affection for him. Lacking an immediate, sufficient and consciously recognized reason to seek retribution, she interprets her father's accidental death as a suicide and blames Loewenthal for it. (pp. 102-03)

Emma proceeds to the fateful encounter with Loewenthal and, on a conscious level, the retribution for her father's "suicide." As in the case of the sailor, a deep-seated psychological motivation for her actions can be established, for at the moment of actually avenging Maier, it is not Loewenthal's supposed role in the latter's death which causes Emma to act, but his responsibility for the affront she has suffered…. That affront, on the unconscious level, involves the betrayal of her father through submission to another man. The resultant shame is avenged by the death of the one immediately and consciously responsible for that betrayal: Loewenthal.

Also, within the context of Emma's neurosis, Loewenthal can be said to have displaced Maier. His being of an older generation and, as her employer, having the potential for giving and withholding reward that corresponds to the paternal role, explain his desirability as a displaceable object. As a substitute for her father, Loewenthal too has symbolically become the sexual aggressor, which allows Emma to direct her negative feelings from her deceased father to him. By shooting Loewenthal, therefore, Emma not only gives vent to her hidden antagonism toward Maier but, paradoxically, by taking vengeance, she affirms her love for him, and thereby achieves an unconscious relief of the guilt arising from her incestuous feelings.

While there is textual support for varied interpretations of Emma Zunz's actions and their causes, it is clear that Borges has not sacrificed verisimilitude in his characterization of her in favor of an allegorical dramatization of a philosophical concept. On the contrary, because of the ambiguous, contradictory and unconscious nature of her motivation, Emma Zunz is one of the most unique individuals among the author's creations. (pp. 103-04)