Lately I have been reading the book The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny, I am on page 103. This book follows Chief Inspector Armand Gamache who lives in Three Pines, a small village in Quebec. A dead body had been found in a bistro in Three Pines, and Gamache, Beauvoir (Gamache’s second in command) and Dr. Sharon Harris (the coroner) are discussing how the victim could’ve died. They conclude that he died from a single blow to the head. As they established that, Gamache thinks to himself;
It was the best news Gamache ever heard at a murder scene. Death he could handle, even murder. Terrible murders. It was a great relief to find one swift and decisive. Almost humane.
He’d once heard a judge say the most humane way to kill a prisoner was to tell him he was free. Then kill him.
Gamache had struggled against that, argued against it, railed against it. Then finally, exhausted, had come to believe it.
Looking at this man’s face he knew he hadn’t suffered. The blow to the back of the head meant he probably hadn’t even seen it coming.
Almost like dying in your sleep.
But not quite. (p. 32)
This quote was significant to me because it showed the emotional aspect of Gamache’s job. You would need to be okay with death to be an inspector but that doesn’t mean that you have to be detached to your emotions. This quote also tells us a lot about who Gamache is, that he is compassionate and thoughtful. Telling us more about Gamache’s character also allows us to be able to show empathy towards him. He thinks more about how the victim died, and tries to imagine what they felt before they died. Knowing that the victim didn’t suffer as he died seems to give Gamache a sense of comfort in the dark job he has.