Still Life

When Jane’s body is found wounded by an arrow in an area frequented by hunters, it’s assumed that she died in a hunting accident. Even when later discoveries call that assumption into question, hunting provides a thematic and symbolic comparison to the act of murder. While waiting for Jane to arrive in Chapter 1, Clara reflects on the typical actions and attitudes of those who come to hunt in Three Pines, including their pride and their occasional inability to “distinguish a pine from a partridge from a person” (3). Later, as part of the investigation, Gamache goes to great lengths to learn about the materials and tactics of bow hunting, even as he becomes “Master of the Hunt” in a different sense (35). When she later discovers a blind, or treehouse used for hunting, in the woods, Clara reflects on the blindness of some hunters, who fail to see “cruelty” in their acts and “beauty” in their victims. It is in this symbolic sense that Ben, a skilled marksman, fits the profile of a hunter.

Gamache considers homes as reflections of those who inhabit them. Yolande’s neat but faceless home indicates her obsession with projecting and protecting a certain image at the cost of her individuality.