Throughout the decades that the genre of Detective Fiction has been in literature, the concept of a detective has been experimented with in countless novels. There have been individuals dragged into the role of detective by chance, investigators hiding within the shadows barely outside of the law and outside of danger, even police officers taking the role as detectives and thrusting themselves straight into the crossfire. However, sometimes there are characters placed in the roles of investigators that the reader may sometimes question, whether it be due to personality or simply from certain actions performed by said character. One such example of this is from the narrative The Dean’s Curse, by Ian Rankin, the main character named John Rebus. Rebus is a detective character that was written in a way that contrasts certain qualities of other detective characters, such as Samuel Spade.
John Rebus’s initial reaction to receiving the phone call of a car exploding is a unique one. As he is driving to the scene, Rebus’s mind is filled with the thoughts of the incident being his fault simply due to the fact that he criticized and threw a novel that he was reading. As he makes his way to the accident, he constantly thinks “If only he hadn’t cursed Dashiell Hammett, if only he hadn’t sneered at his book, at its exaggerations and its melodramas, if only… Then none of this would have happened” (Rankin, 423). This contrasts the usual reaction of an investigator receiving a case, which consists of beginning to brainstorm of how and where they should start their investigation. Instead of pulling up to the scene with a clear path to take in regards to questioning, Rebus arrives feeling guilty of the event through an action of his that has no relation to the incident.
Compared to a number of characters within detective literature, John Rebus is one that is not necessarily taken seriously not only by those around him, but sometimes by himself as well. Right as Rebus comes up with a start to his investigation, his first thoughts before beginning is: “Yes, there were times where even Detective Inspector John Rebus came in useful” (Rankin, 425), implying that this could be how he views himself or how he is viewed by everyone around him. This is also evident when he returned to West Lodge the following morning to continue his work, only to be stopped by a new set of guards at the door. Even as tried to explain that Major Dean had given his permission to enter, the guards continued to bar him from the estate and prevent him from entering. “The guards were smirking as they closed the gates behind their ‘guvnor’”, making the Inspector feel “like a snubbed schoolboy, left out of the football game” (Rankin, 428). Rebus’s insecurities are quite evident throughout this narrative, along with his character not being taken seriously and even mocked for simply trying to do his job.
In conclusion, the character Detective Inspector John Rebus is one that is written quite differently from other examples of detectives throughout the genre. He is written as a more insecure man who is not taken as seriously as other examples of detectives by those involved with the case assigned to them. John Rebus is an example of a new twist of the detective concept, creating new ideas and variations to the investigator character. This character is a great example of what can be created when you experiment with different characteristics in a well-known character role.
Comments