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“The morning has turned lavishly beautiful. The autumn sun gives the greens of the fields an impossible, mythic radiance and transforms the back roads into light-muddled paths where a goblin with a riddle, or a pretty maiden with a basket, could be waiting around every gorse-and-bramble bend. Cal is in no mood to appreciate any of it. He feels like this specific beauty is central to the illusion that lulled him into stupidity, turned him into the peasant gazing slack-jawed at his handful of gold coins til they melt into dead leaves in front of his eyes. If all this had happened in some depressing suburban clot of tract homes and ruler-measured lawns, he would have kept his wits about him.” (p368) How are environmental elements, such as weather and geology, used in this book?
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The environment helps define what life will be like depending on where we live. In The Searcher the mountains are ominous, dark peaks on the horizon. There is a foreboding about who lives there and what activities take place in such rugged terrain. They suggest a harsh lifestyle. One would expect a difficult time being accepted by those who live in the mountains. That they would be resistant to newcomers. Yet, the mountains border the soft edges of the fields below them in a rather protective way. Those fields are lush and green, dotted with sheep peacefully grazing and farmers on their tractors tilling the land. From a distance it all appears so idyllic. An environment where one would be welcomed with open arms. Where the culture was openly defined. Assimilating into a new way of life, a new culture, is like navigating a giant iceberg on open waters. It’s not what’s easily seen above the water line but what’s beneath the water that is most dangerous. That’s the part of culture we only learn and understand by totally immersing ourselves in it. Cal was fooled by the beauty and peaceful landscape around him into thinking starting a new life in this part of Ireland would be easy. That it would relieve him of all his angst.
When I was teaching school most of my students lived hard lives in depressed parts of town. Many were gang members because their entire family belonged to a gang. They were poor, their parents weren’t very nurturing, life on the streets was hard and having street smarts meant survival. Instead of telling them their behaviors were wrong I met them each day with the statement,”Different space, different face.” Slowly we began defining behaviors based on our environment. What was acceptable in school was not the same as what worked in their neighborhoods. My goal was to give them the means to navigate life in both worlds. Hopefully, this would increase their chances of breaking the chains of poverty.
Weather is always a mood enhancer. It helps the reader better understand the emotions of the character or situation better. The mist and fog enveloping the peaks of the mountains make them more foreboding. Rain dampens not just the earth but our spirits as well. Slogging through the rain always make everything more difficult. And, when the sun shines all is well. The world is bright and cheery creating an atmosphere of celebration. Weather sets the tone in books the way music sets the tone in movies. Scary shows aren’t quite as scary when you take away the foreboding music.
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Amazing Libby! What an inspiration you are in how you taught your classes and the compassion you had for your students. Genius method to build connections with students living difficult lives.
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So beautifully put Libby and thank you for sharing your real-life experiences in how you approached teaching kids who felt the ill effects of the environments in which they lived (much like Trey). I imagine that school to them must have felt like the giant iceberg you describe? I’ll need to remember “different space, different face”. What a simple, clear way to help anyone redefine their behavior and outlook.
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“The West of Ireland looked beautiful on the internet; from right smack in the middle of it, it looks even better. The air is rich as fruitcake, like you should do more than just breathe it in; bite off a big mouthful, maybe, or rub handfuls of it all over your face.” Beauty and illusion. “He feels like this specific beauty is central to the illusion that lulled him into stupidity, turned him into the peasant gazing slack-jawed at his handful of gold coins till they melt into dead leaves in front of his eyes.” The environment provides a contrast to the darkness hidden underneath the beauty, making something ugly look innocuous. “The road up into the mountains feels different in a car, rockier and less welcoming, like it’s biding its time to puncture Cal’s tire or send him side slipping into a patch of bog.” “The mountainside is so deserted that he feels like an intruder.” “Cal doesn’t like the stark contrasts in this terrain. They have the same feel as the weather, of an unpredictability deliberately calculated to keep you one step behind.” When Cal learns that Trey is not a boy, he is pissed “because he would have liked at least one person around this damn place to be exactly what they seem.” Beauty and illusion.
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I believe it is easier to recognize how weather colors one’s mood, especially, as Libby describes, the effects of mist, fog and rain and the contrasting experience of sunshine. I found the descriptions of weather in Ireland evocative, definitely contributing to the emotional tone. This passage is interesting in that Cal finds the weather so discordant with his mood; it is a stunningly beautiful day and he is focused on what he has missed, what he sees as his failures in the search for Brendan, failures that may have contributed to Trey’s beating.
It is interesting for me to consider “weather” in this setting (and in virtually all of our BCFs choices) because it is so different from mine. Rain is rare in NM, mist and fog even more so. Brilliant sunshine occurs most days. An overcast day is a pleasure and brings with it the hope for always needed moisture. It is geology that sets the tone, that informs the landscape here.
Libby describes the mountains and the contrasting fields. The other feature that fascinated me were the bogs. The idea that a misstep could suck someone in, literally and possibly completely. I think the bogs are another metaphor for Cal’s situation and struggle. He seems on the verge of a miscalculation or error in judgement. Mart warns him about the bogs, perhaps in an effort to dissuade Cal from continuing to search. In any case, I found they set an ominous tone also.
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I found that Tana French uses the environment to often foreshadow events or mirror the people. Take the simple statement about the cold in Ireland. Mart tells Cal “Different kind of cold. This one’s sneaky. You wouldn’t feel it coming, not ’till it’s got you.” Mart could be talking about himself and what he does to Cal. Another time Cal muses that Ireland has a “lack of dangers” but, in fact, they are just like the bog, hiding in plain sight. The bog looks like normal ground but will suck you under. The description in this question hints at all the Irish folklore tied to the landscape with goblins, pretty maidens, and pots of gold. It hints at the deceptiveness of the landscape – the fantasy Ireland – or at least it hints at how Cal interprets it as lulling him into a complacency and hiding its dangers.
French also foreshadows Brendan in the bog with Cal’s first venture into the mountains. He purposely sticks his boot in so he has an excuse to talk to Sheila Reddy. But Mart warns Cal “Watch yourself around them bogs now.” Later, when he goes up with Trey, she warns him too of the danger. I confess I knew about the long history in Ireland of the peat bogs and how they preserve bodies – they’ve found bodies hundreds of years old in them. So I right away felt a sense of foreboding as Cal is being warned repeatedly about the bogs. I didn’t initially think that’s where Brendan was, but rather that maybe Cal would be put in some danger involving them.
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I’m a big fan of atmosphere in a book; I admire a writer who can immerse the reader into the world of their characters. The weather and geology played a big part in the story-telling of this book, and became a character in and of itself, playing a role to set and advance the story, evoking emotions and providing obstacles. Mountains; forests; bogs; rocky roads; muddy fields; isolation; sometimes dangerous beauty; menace masquerading as peace. Cal came to Ireland to metaphorically find greener pastures; and he did find them, literally, but beneath that bucolic veneer, he also found the hidden dangers that lay there. He found both lightness and dark in the place. A lot of shades of gray, both in the weather and topography itself and in the morality of the inhabitants. And he discovered that in order to survive, he had to understand the dangers and the boundaries of both, and respect them, and adapt accordingly.
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I love everyone’s perspectives about the weather and geography immersing the reader in a unique atmosphere. There’s definitely something remote, isolated and rugged in how Tana French describes Western Ireland. I noticed that she sets the novel in the Autumn with hints at winter coming. And I think tThe changing season parallels Cal’s growing sense of dread. The changing season in the book reminded me of some of the Gamache novels where the change of seasons subtly heralds in change (and sometimes extra drama.)
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I should just like all the replies and move on quietly instead of adding a comment that provides no value to this conversation. But I have to thank everyone for these responses; I hadn’t thought of some of the significant aspects that the weather or environmental aspects of the area that all of you have described here. Again, my appreciation for this book has increased, as does my appreciation for everyone here and your insightful comments.
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Katherine, I have yet to read any comment that added no value and certainly not one of yours!
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Totally agree!
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