Reply To: Still Life: Is it a flaw in Gamache that he has a desire to help people, and that he’s too compassionate?
I don’t think it’s ever really a flaw to want to help people, or have too much compassion. It’s what you do with those impulses, and whether you use them judiciously or not that matters. As Tara says, Gamache had compassion and wanted to help Nichol, but he also limited his impulse to what served the greater good. Had there been more time and opportunity, he might have continued to try to help her develop, but he made a prompt and proper decision that at this point, it was not in the best interest of the case to do so.
In the case of Matthew Croft, I don’t think he was wrong to stick to his guns. If he hadn’t done so, and gone along with the order to arrest him, he would have knowingly gone against what he thought was right, and would have had to live with the consequences of possibly ruining an innocent man’s life. He knew it was against the letter of his training, but he weighed the consequences and was at peace with what it would mean for him, letting his conscience be his guide. I don’t see that as a flaw so much as a trait that will often lead to conflict, for better or for worse. He’s the one who will suffer for his choices, and will have to live with the results and set his own limits. I admire his compassion and desire to help, and I think that it’s brave of him to be strong enough to follow his convictions in these decisions, but also use his intelligence to know when enough is enough.
