54 pages • 1 hour read
Louise PennyThe Nature of the Beast
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Laurent’s Stick
Laurent Lepage is famous in Three Pines for carrying a carved wooden stick everywhere. While he was alive, Laurent used the stick in his games of pretend; the stick therefore symbolizes childhood innocence and imagination. Laurent’s curiosity and imagination lead him to experiment with inventing fantastical stories. While this practice brings him joy and makes his short life vivid and interesting, it also means that no one takes him seriously when he tells the community about finding a giant gun in the woods. Because Laurent’s acts of imagination are joyful and innocent, he doesn’t realize that he is in danger when he encounters the gun, which symbolizes greed and violence.
The stick also plays a key role in the plot; when Gamache realizes that the stick was not found with Laurent’s body, his suspicions that the boy may have been murdered are confirmed. The stick is located next to the gun, confirming that Laurent was killed near the gun. Because the stick symbolizes happiness and innocence when Laurent runs around with it, the presence of it lying abandoned on the ground evokes the terrible loss associated with the violent death of a child. Laurent’s innocence is lost when he stumbles upon the gun because this incident marks his entry into a world in which adults engage war and murder, and where people commit terrible acts in order to protect themselves and their perceived interests.
The Manuscript of the Play
Antoinette first encounters John Fleming’s play, She Sat Down and Wept, when she finds a physical copy of the manuscript among the possessions of her late uncle. Antoinette is struck by the play, decides to stage it, and makes copies of the play so that actors can perform it. These physical copies of the manuscript come to symbolize Fleming’s evil and insidious influence as his thoughts literally spread through the town. Although the connection is obscured for a long time, it is significant that the first violent act of the novel (Laurent’s murder) occurs only a short time after the debate about the play first begins. The debate about whether or not to perform the play sets the stage for further tension within the community when it becomes clear that one of the residents has killed Laurent.
Ruth articulates the strong connection between Fleming and the play when she explains, “Creations are creatures, and they have lives of their own. That play is Fleming, and Fleming is a murderer” (218). Ruth’s awareness that the play symbolizes Fleming’s evil influence leads her to bury the physical manuscript outside her home, just as one would bury a body. This action symbolizes the connection between the play and Fleming, as well as the way that Ruth’s secret encounter with Fleming is also buried in her psyche and memories. While Ruth is right to view the play suspiciously, she is naïve in her attempt to bury it. The play continues to exert a malign influence until all the people in the village, including Ruth and Al Lepage, finally reveal their secrets.
Folk Music
As a motif, folk music is introduced early in the novel. When Laurent first finds the gun, he begins to hum “a tune his father sang to him every night at bedtime” (3). This song is identifiable from the lyrics as Neil Young’s “Old Man.” This song is referenced later, along with other songs and musicians from the 1960s and ’70s. It also comes to light that Al Lepage wrote and recorded his own folk songs, which Jean-Guy eventually listens to, noting the “fusion of folk and rock and country” (192). The motif of folk music is used to connect to broader themes of creativity within the novel, for Three Pines is home to many individuals with creative pursuits. Ruth is a famous poet, and Clara is a famous painter; Antoinette and Brian are able to motivate the community to participate in staging the play because many individuals are already interested in different art forms.
Folk music also has connections to social and political critique, and this motif therefore alludes to Al Lepage’s complicated history with the Vietnam War. Many American folk artists in the 1960s and 1970s objected to political actions undertaken by the American government, including participation in the Vietnam War and conscription. At first, Al’s interest in folk music seems to align with his identity as a draft dodger, but it is eventually revealed to be part of the elaborate ruse he has constructed to hide the truth of his identity as a Vietnam veteran and war criminal. The motif reflects the novel’s exploration of the connection between works of art and moral context. The locals’ views of the play She Sat Down and Wept also change significantly when people learn that John Fleming is the author; likewise, Al’s interest in folk music takes on a different tone when his true past comes to light.
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By Louise Penny
