Guerre Response

One quote that accurately sums up the starting point at which mystery begins to be an important aspect of the novel “The Wife of Martin Guerre,” is this: “She rejoiced thereat, and she also trembled, a fear so terrible and unnatural that she hardly dared to acknowledge it in her most secret heart” (pg 50). It is important to note that mystery only really works when readers don’t see it coming. In this example, there is no situation of irony in which the audience knows something Bertrande does not; indeed, we find out about her suspicions that incite the following incidents, just as she does. No earlier, and no later.

Likewise, the truth (whether or not the man returned to Bertrande is Martin Guerre or not) is kept hidden from us, the readers, as long as it is kept disclosed to every other character in the story. This is the beauty and appeal of a limited omniscient narrator; we learn and feel and experience in accordance with Bertrande. If you think about it, if we readers were privy to the information that Martin Guerre is not in fact the real martin guerre, we would pity Bertrande’s delusions, feel for the real Monsieur Guerre, dead or missing or wherever he is, and all the enigma would be removed from the story Instead, the hidden nature of most of the fact surrounding the situation are what drives its mysterious nature and our enjoyment. We are led by a paper trail of our own questions: Guere does have different characteristics, right? But Bertrande of all people would know the difference, wouldn’t she? Unless the baby is making her delusional? Oh my goodness, she has a baby with him. Where is the real Martin if this isn’t him how does this guy know so many intimate details? And the habits that are passed down through the Guerre family that this man seems to have as well?

This moment is so powerful because we, like Bertrande, begin to put two and two together, and that “aha” moment comes to us at the same time it begins to come to the main character. The quote is also very emotionally fueled, and that pathos helps propel the reader along, forcing them to invest, if not because of Bertrande's apparent distress, then because the mysterious effect has roped us in. There’s a quote by Bill Buford that states that “Good writers, it is often said, have the ability to make you keep on reading them whether you want to or not-the milk boils over, the subway stop is missed."In this case, maybe we don’t want to keep reading, but the mysterious element that has been introduced keeps us reading.