An insight into human nature

“Do you know what you’ve done?” Gamache shouted, finally letting all his pent-up anger out. Aiming it at this stupid, stupid man. “You’ve released a monster.” … “Look.” he roared. shoving the picture into the man’s face. “look!” … “you let this madman out,” Gamache shouted. … “He was practically screaming. Shaking with fury and on the verge of tears. It went beyond anger, beyond rage, into a territory Beauvoir had never seen in the Chief Inspector. Gamache was losing it.” Armand lives with the non-redacted savagery of Fleming’s crimes every day of his life. He is one of the few people who have witnessed the full extent of this evilness. To realize that someone this inhumane has been released into society is more than a man like Gamache can stand. He cannot understand how people can be so weak and easily manipulated into allowing this man to go free. More importantly, Gamache is angry with himself for letting this beast get into his head. Now he’s free to terrorize everyone and everything that Gamace loves. For someone as self disciplined and in control of his actions to come apart at the seams is testimony to the horror this man, Fleming, can unleash on society. I see Gamache’s losing control of his emotions as a measure of the depth of his humanity, his compassion. He exemplifies the kind of person we should all strive to be.

There are many, as always. This is one that resonated with me; I’ll call it the Pink Lemonade scene. Armand Gamache has a demonstrated capacity for introspection and self-awareness, regularly practices the statements that lead to wisdom, has endured public censure and humiliation, apologized to others in public and in private and has the love and respect of the people of Three Pines. And yet, he is apparently undone by Billy Williams good natured comments about being served pink lemonade and dissembles about why. We all have some objectively inconsequential things about us that we don’t quite own or struggle to acknowledge. It is part of being human. We should be as gracious with others and ourselves as we are with Armand.

“Reine-Marie sighed. It’s our fault. Historians, archivists, researchers, professors, biographers. We look to the so-call important figures. We value the papers left behind by Premiers, Prime Ministers, Presidents–by the most prominent witnesses to history–and forget there are other witnesses. The people who actually lived it. The First Nations. The farmers. The cooks and cleaners and salespeople. The laborers. The immigrants, the minorities. The women, said Harriet. Yes. The Stone letter was among the papers of a stonemason. A bricklayer. No one thought they could be of value. She shook her head. It is a terrible flaw in written history. We were also wrong to assume Pierre Stone was next to illiterate, said Armand.” From my own genealogical research, I know that it is these “other witnesses” who are the backbone of any country. As one of those “other witnesses,” that’s why it is so important to vote.