Scottish Literature: Ian Rankin\'s Hide

Scottish Literature: Ian Rankin's Hide And Seek

Scottish Literature: Rankin's Hide and Seek

Murder seems like the ultimate social wrong. Ian Rankin's Hide and Seek offers a different picture in which murder is not only almost the most innocent of the crimes committed, it is the starting point that leads to discovery of a horrific web of true evil in which violence is offered as amusement in a Scottish atmosphere of thriftiness, seeming Celtic supernatural awareness enhanced with references to ghosts, witches and Robert Louise Stevenson's the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Patently, when a story starts out with a murder, you can be pretty sure it will be a mystery story because someone will be trying to find out who committed the murder. In Rankin's Hide and Seek, the murder performs this function but it also is the springboard from which John Rebus, our detective, winds up uncovering a true pool of such evil that by the end of the book we plainly have found the "Mr. Hyde" of humanity's soul. Some of the ways the murder itself shapes the book include, Tracy reporting the body found one way and police finding it another (pg. 18), which leads to the investigation going in a slightly different direction. There are the unexplained bruises not only on the corpse, but on another young man as well. There is the dog fighting ring which at first glimpse seems almost comic relief in the light of a human being having been murdered -- until you realize that it is another vicious form of "amusement" done for the benefit of bored people. That is what grows and grows from the murder that gives the story life: a wider and wider pool of violence made more horrific because it is committed for the amusement and pleasure of people with way too much money. What did Rankin call them -- decadent?

All through the book, the violence goes beyond the murder. That thread is never lost. There are the bruises, done repeatedly by the look of the different colors of them, Tracy and Charles get in a fist-swinging match. Again, there is the element of the dog fighting ring, there is the implied violence of "rough trade" which is euphemistic for sadomasochistic sexual activity, and then there is the symbolism for the darkness and filth of the violence. There are the photographs taken of the illegal fights. "Boxing" matches that people go to, on some level, hoping to see someone beaten to death. Those photos are found in a bath tub filled with human excrement. (pg.166) There is the symbolism of the narrow, dark stairway that leads down, down the below the level of the legitimate club -- leads down into the darkest source of the true violence and depravity.(pg.197).

Another thread to follow through the book are the various aspects of what one might call Scottish national character. Right from the beginning there are all the various references to imply something of a sixth sense or as the Scot's say, "the Sight." DI Rebus "feels something" at the scene of what appears to be a straightforward drug overdose. (pg.3). Of course this whole concept of the supernatural is helped along by the appearance of a pentagram on one wall of the room where Ronnie is found. Everyone knows this is a sign of Satanists -- well actually it is the sign of those of the Wicca faith which has absolutely nothing to do with Satan. Wicca doesn't even believe in Satan let alone worship him. Anyway, when Rebus gets the autopsy report on Ronnie and is told that there is rat poison in the body, he is musing about Ronnie being chosen to die, "Been indeed sacrificed" (pg. 32). Although Rebus makes the connection with witches and such it turns out that the one lead that would seem to clearly be a source of violence is not at all and is indeed the result of Charles' innocent searchings. A stack of books topples in Charles' room with nobody pushing it and McCall, a fellow police officer, comments, "Ghosts," "That's all, just ghosts." Rebus and his superior are at lunch with members of the upper crust at a toney restaurant. These people have money. When the check comes, Rebus has already figured it comes to three figures and those are pounds, not dollars. The many who picks up the tab is wealthy but only on the fringes of the real "badness." What is the single most prevalent stereotype of the Scotsman: thrifty, right?

Andrews had insisted on paying the bill. A good three figures' worth by Rebus's hasty calculation. Andrews was studying the bill now, lingering over each item as though checking it against his own mental price list. Not only a good businessman, thought Rebus unkindly, but a bloody good Scot. (pg. 77)

Inspector Rebus has tracked Charles down to his uncle's home. He talking with the uncle and suddenly gets up, goes to the door into the hall opens it and calls up the stairs for Charles to come down. Rebus "just knew" he was in the house. (pg. 128) These references not only serve to remind us that Scots are the descendents of Celts and Celts are a people in touch with the supernatural, the incidences also help to set the tone of the book. Another Scottish national characteristic is a religion that is descended from a clergyman named John Calvin. It is a very strict, straight laced form of Protestant religion and Rankin depicts one of the henchmen of Finlay Andrews and Malcolm Lanyon as a Calvinist. Does that mean that if you go to church it is OK to commit murder?

A last Scottish trait might be considered stubbornness -- well, maybe actually bull-headedness. Rebus could have accepted the idea that Ronnie was a useless junkie, not worth bothering with. He might have done that too except right off there were things ringing his warning bells -- back to that feeling something. Also, it seems that Rebus is the kind of cop that considers himself the advocate for the dead regardless of who or what they are. There are also times through the book when the word curmudgeon comes to mind. For all the caring-ness we see him show in his private thoughts and musings, he is just as likely as not to be short and grumpy with his co-workers. Actually, right from the beginning, our police officer seems a bit socially inept. I guess if I needed a policeman I'd rather have him or her dedicated to the job more than I want her or him to be a social butterfly.