Reply To: Still Life: What do you think about the title “Still Life”?
The most insidious person with a “still” life in the novel is Ben, in my mind. He lies about his mother throughout his life to gain sympathy and to hurt her and excuses his lies to himself because “it could have been true” and he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. He stays at her home waiting for her fortune. It is ironic that, as Peter says, the one time Ben isn’t passive and erases his face from Jane’s picture, he gives himself away. There’s almost a kind of fate or divine retribution in that. Ben’s actions have profound effects on many of the characters, but most especially Peter and Clara, although Gamache to a lesser degree.
For Clara, she realizes that she has been blind and, in some ways, “passive” by judging Timmer because of her son’s words but not noticing Timmer’s actions or Ben’s. Peter chooses to retreat into himself and believes love can’t be trusted, and Gamache realizes he fooled himself (and jeopardized the case) by giving Ben an advantage by assuming he loved Clara.
There are actually several characters other than Ben who blame others for their unhappiness, and so you could argue they too are living “still lives,” unable to mature because their choices are to remain “stuck” in their points of view. There’s Phillipe, who is so angry and scared of being gay that he refuses to communicate with his parents and instead lashes out. There’s Yolande, who is hateful and yet desires attention, but she is blind to Jane’s lesson with the Queen of Hearts playing card, stuck in her ignorance. Agent Nichol can’t see past her own arrogance and need to be right and important.
As for their choices that remind me of my own, I think I can identify with sometimes indulging in blaming the outside world for my problems rather than examining my choices and recognizing my faults. I also sympathize with Clara because I’ve often taken people’s words at face value and been swayed by their words rather than judging their actions, much to my regret. But it’s all part of the process of growing, isn’t it? On a side note, this question also made me recognize how lovely the last line in Still Life is when Gamache looks down on Three Pines and thinks, “Life was far from harried here. But neither was it still.” A wonderful nod to the title and Myrna’s quote.
