Reply To: Book 17: Why does Gamache save her life?
Armand understands and accepts what is asked of him as an officer of the Surete. As many have said, he does it because he is who he is— a man of impeccable integrity and principle. He accepted the task of protecting this woman, and so he did. If he wasn’t capable of following through, I think he knows himself well enough to have admitted it and stepped away in the first place. He only questions himself later, as to whether it was the right move or not, because he clearly understood his duty at the time, which was to protect the lives of all the people in that auditorium, and leave his emotions and personal opinions out of it. He couldn’t, like Vincent Gilbert, not act; to allow an execution just because this person was advocating an idea he disagreed with. He never takes the easy way out. What would I do, in his place? I honestly don’t know; I hope I would have been able to recuse myself from the assignment, because I don’t think I could have stomached listening to that woman in the first place, let alone be responsible for protecting her.