LIFE’S LUCK

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Witch Elm (A Novel)

Author: Tana French

Narration by: Paul Nugent

In “The Witch Elm” Tana French ponderously begins with a young man considering a change in jobs. As one continues reading/listening, it gains momentum and specificity as a story of a handsome, financially secure, young white man who is attacked and nearly killed in a home invasion. The attack is brutal; nearly ending his life. The details of his recovery and his family’s history expose the social and moral blindness of humanity. “The Witch Elm” reveals many truths about people who consciously or subconsciously bury facts about themselves, their families, and their past to happily live their lives.

We do not see ourselves or others as we are because of human nature, culture, and social conditioning that begins with birth and ends at death. French writes “The Witch Elm” to explain how human beings keep secrets from their consciousness and conceal their human acts in a hollow of their mind, i.e., like things placed in the hollow of a “…Witch Elm” tree.

French’s writing is excellent, but her book requires the patience of Job. The author gives listener/readers an insightful view of life. However, the theme of her story is too repetitive. The story of her hero, Toby, is not “everyman” because of the wealth of his family, the privilege of being white, good looking, and employed in the prime of his life. With the exception of being white, all of these privileges are lost when he is nearly beaten to death.

In recovery, Toby is physically damaged, fearful, confused, and, at times, loses control of himself. He returns to his family home which gives him the illusion of safety but finds something happened in his past in which he played a part that accidently killed a playmate. Though he did not remember the incident, two siblings had hidden a young boy’s body in the hollow of a tree in front of the family home. When Toby is confronted, in his diminished mental condition (from the home invasion beating), he gets into an argument with his uncle about the earlier unremembered accident and wraps his hands around his uncle’s throat and strangles him to death.

Every life is filled with good and bad luck, but most are blind to the privileges they have over others. Being white, rich, handsome, or beautiful is taken for granted which creates a moral blindness toward those who do not have those characteristics. Toby’s life seems perfect before he is attacked in his home. He is nearly killed and rendered mentally damaged in the beating he receives from unknown assailants.

Life is mostly taken for granted. The consequence of that truth is humans have a distorted view of life. We measure everything we know and do against a distorted view of ourselves and measure others against that false image. French gets close to what leads to the cause of social dysfunction in the world.

French’s story is a thriller that exposes the illusion of life’s predictability. Control of one’s life is shown to be a fiction. Life is unpredictable regardless of one’s economic circumstances, physical appearance, apparent health, education, or power. The title of French’s book alludes to the folkloric myth of a “…Witch Elm”, i.e., associated with secrets, spirits, and things concealed in the hollow of a tree.