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Poverty and its impact is a subtle thread in the novel. In what ways does Tana French bring it up? How does it influence the actions of the characters? What other current affairs does she address in the book?
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There is discussion about why the young people move away from the country. There are not a lot of opportunities for young people, especially young men, in small rural areas. A few might take over the family farm or run a family business but those are few and far between. Some will leave their home and try to find their way in the city or maybe in England. Then there are those who succumb to apathy and depression ending up taking their own lives. Others turn to drugs, using them and/or selling them. There is a sad reality of seeing no hope for the future where they grew up and drives many young people to find a way somewhere other than their homeland.
Tana gives a nod to the LGBTQ community when Mart tells Cal that Trey is a girl. He assumes by Cal’s reaction that the news means Cal thinks Try is gay. Mart tries to smooth out Cal’s shock by confiding in him that he has an older brother who is gay. He also tells Cal that he voted for gay rights. We don’t really know if Trey identifies as a boy. Her butch haircut is for convenience according to her and her clothes are what she has to wear. I suspect they are hand-me-downs since the family is so poor and there are six children. I also think Trey is so focused on finding her brother that she doesn’t take the time or care about her appearance. She acts quit “tough” but I believe that is from living in survival mode all her life.
Of course the issue of drug use and abuse is a big part of the story. It’s the reason Brendan is dead. It’s the reason Mart is trying so hard to protect his family, the community of Ardnakelty, from the invasion of harmful drugs and its impact on the youth living there.
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Ratty jeans, hole in sneaker, hand me down hoodie and hunger are all indications of the poverty with which Trey lives. The pride of not wanting to be a charity case, but providing payment to Cal is illustrated by Trey bringing baked goods, sausages, etc. Sheila Reddy refused the new socks Cal bought. That pride was evident in her reply: “I’m not so poor that I can’t afford to give away a pair of old socks.” Poverty is also seen in the young leaving for the cities to find a better life. Some choose suicide or alcoholism because they do not see the possibility of a better life. “Now there’s too many things you’re told to want, there’s no way to get them all, and once you’re done trying, what have you to show for it at the end?” The young women are more adaptable, but young men don’t know what to do with themselves. I think this quote shows the pride, fear of failure and need for instant gratification which seems to be the bane of the young men. They want something, but working for it takes too long, if work can be found. I think this is also part of the vicious cycle of poverty.
The author also addresses the drug problem which is flowing from Dublin into the village. The drug problem ties into the issue of poverty. Brendan saw setting up a meth lab as a solution to his family’s poverty.
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What struck me about the issue of poverty in The Searcher was the general attitude villagers had towards the Reddy family. Our first introduction to the group is by Noreen, who made a face when their name was brought up. “Sheila’s poor … Is all” was the explanation from Lena. To be fair, Noreen is justified in her opinion because the kids steal from her.
However, there seemed to be a general dismissiveness and disregard for the family based on their socioeconomic status. Mart’s description of the family to Cal was similar to Noreen and Lena’s, but he also made assumptions of all of the kids, assessing them all based on their father’s poor work ethics and irresponsibility. Cal knows that sometimes kids can rise about the conditions in which they’re raised, although it is not common. However, Cal doesn’t share the local’s viewpoint and treats the family with respect.
And, of course, I think this is reflected in current events and an ever-present attitude in society, where a person’s wealth is usually tightly correlated with social status. Those with more wealth have more privileges, more respect and more freedoms, while the lives of the poor seem to have no value at all to some.
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Brendan goes to his farmer friend and not his rich friend because of his rich friend’s attitude towards poor people. Noreen, Mart, and others all gossip and are nosy about other people’s business but not always in a kind way. It seems that the people love their gossip more than they love their neighbour. Sheila Reddy warns Cal of the same when she tells him “People are fierce talkers, round here.” Brendan’s girlfriend also tells Cal there were nasty rumours about Brendan having raped her and she quashed it but she added that “there were plenty of others I couldn’t do anything about.” She tells Cal that that was what Adrnakelty was like to Brendan, all his life. “Because he came from that family, people always believed the worst about him, whether there was any reason or no.” So there’s an extreme prejudice against the Reddy’s and poor people in the town. They rather denigrate them and be cruel to them than help them. This isolates the family from the community and pushes young people like Brendan to turn to crime as a means of getting ahead.
It doesn’t seem to occur to Mart and his gang to actually help in ways that matter. They will help Cal with his electrical problems but it doesn’t occur to them to help Sheila fix her leaking roof. Also they have no real interest in helping the children. Cal helps Trey not only emotionally but is teaching her a skill (carpentry) that can be of benefit to her outside of schooling. None of the adults in town consider that perhaps the Reddy children don’t go to school because they are being belittled and bullied for being poor, or if they do, they don’t seem to have any ideas about what to do about it. Noreen helps a little bit by turning the other way when the Reddy kids shoplift but Mart and others aren’t charitable. They rather judge Sheila for her past choices and mistakes and in doing so punish the children. So there is a cycle of poverty, violence, and crime that Tana French is outlining here that is reinforced through people’s attitudes.
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Well said Tara. I agree and would just add this quote, “Call finds himself afraid. He feels the fear first, and understand it only gradually. It has to do with the kid, and the way people around here treat him and his family like shit…” There is definitely discrimination against the poor that is very clearly an issue in today’s world, as it seems to have always been in the times with kings and peasants.
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So much to think about with this topic. I’m appreciating everyone’s thoughtful observations. I think there’s a broader level of poverty that is subtly hinted at in the novel that isn’t explicitly spelled out by Tana French but she does touch on it. That’s that the village itself is poor and tucked away from the power centres (eg Dublin) and therefore is forgotten and ignored and left to take care of itself. As result of that, the village has had to become self sufficient and has grown to distrust authority. The police officer tells Cal, “They’d rather keep us out of it, unless they have no choice at all.” This means that the village has implemented its own set of rules (eg the vigilante justice discussed previously). It also probably means that there aren’t much in the way of social services like youth centres or food banks and the like for families like the Reddys to turn to. This means that drug gangs and criminals can take advantage of the disadvantaged youth to expand their market. Whereas Brendan is somewhat sympathetic in this regard, Donie is not. But with the villagers keeping the police “out of it” this problem can only get worse because the drugs brings in its own market economy, violence, and Donies. This is very much playing out in many rural towns in North America, and probably in Europe too.
I also think Tana French examines what loneliness does to young men and old men – and it’s not positive. There’s a lot of talk in the media these days about the “epidemic of loneliness” in Western countries and French talks about it throughout the book. Cal thinks young people are purposeless and have no direction, which has negative consequences. He thinks: “His private opinion about a lot of the baby thugs and delinquents he encountered on the job was that what they really yearned after, whether they knew it or not, was a rifle and a horse and a herd of cattle to drive through dangerous terrain.”
What women do also matters. Nancy, I agree with your comment that the young women are more adaptable and therefore are leaving the village. As result, there are fewer children, more men are single, etc. Mart discusses with Cal several times that he has to look after his mental health and not be alone too much. Mart observes that Bobby and his UFOs is a result of a restless mind. “All that’s wrong with him is he spends too much time at the farm work. It’s grand work, but unless a man is pure thick, it can leave his mind restless. Most of us have something to look after that: the family, or the cards, or the drink, or what-have-you. But Bobby’s a bachelor, he’s got no head for the drink, and he’s that bad at cards we won’t have him in our game. When his mind does get restless, he’s got no option but to head up the hills hunting UFOs.”
But Lena also observes that the old bachelors like Mart are also scared: “Men with no children get to feeling unsafe, when they get older. The world’s changing and they’ve no young people to show them it’s grand, so they feel like they’re being attacked. Like they need to be ready for a fight the whole time.” So there are negative effects on the community as a whole when too many people are isolated and lonely.
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Amazing discussion here that includes so many details of the characters and Ardnakelty. I think the idea that French captures well, and that is one that underscores much of the policy around and discussion of poverty, is the idea that it is a character flaw, that being poor is somehow earned because one doesn’t work hard enough or made bad choices or have an attitude. That is makes them a candidate for manipulation, “A freebie, even a little one, does that to poor people; it loosens them”.
And if poverty is within a person’s capacity to change, then the responsibility to address its causes or ameliorate its effects is someone else’s. That, for me, captures much of the current thinking and actions in the U.S. government but it is also an insidious view that can influence individual’s as well.
I won’t even begin to try to acknowledge all of the examples folks have already cited. I think “The Searcher” captures so many contemporary issues facing our communities and society. Ardnakelty is a microcosm of contemporary societal and social justice issues. I think it could have been plunked down in Appalachia, or Mississippi or rural New Mexico and the only difference would be the setting (and the colorful characters); one could write a similar story about the effects of poverty.
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