Creation Lake

“It’s the same whether you’re in a relationship with a man or pretending to be in one. They want you to listen when they tell you about their precious youth.”

This passage shows the dry, sarcastic wit that characterizes Sadie. She is intelligent and an effective spy, but she is also given to witty and not entirely kind observations about the people around her. These kinds of comments speak to Sadie’s sense of humor but also her isolation. Her human interactions are limited to observation and to relationships that are ultimately duplicitous: Lucien thinks that the two are a couple, but Sadie is merely using him to help her case. This tendency in Sadie forms part of the novel’s exploration of The Ethics of Espionage: She uses others to such a degree that she remains permanently isolated.

“I am a better driver after a few drinks, more focused.”

Sadie does not live by conventional ethics. She believes that stealing hones her concentration, and she has no qualms about manipulating people for information. Here, she makes the self-serving claim that driving while intoxicated heightens her abilities. She needs this skewed interpretation of right and wrong to operate as a spy, and her ability to adapt her moral code is a key part of what makes her so successful in the field of espionage.

“No need to rush this. Let him believe he’s making every move and every decision. Let him be certain he’s in control.”

Sadie is masterfully manipulative. Her entire relationship with Lucien is engineered, a complex game in which she elicits the responses she wants from him while letting him think that he has the upper hand. This manipulation relies on a keen understanding of patriarchal gender dynamics in romantic relationships. Sadie understands that Lucien needs to see himself as the one in control, and she controls him by feeding this delusion.

“Pleasure augurs survival.”

Bruno posits that seeking pleasure was part of what drove evolutionary changes for early hominid species. Here, he argues that the desire to chew tobacco or eat delicious foods—to seek pleasure—enabled early hominids to survive. He associates this quality in humans with the same trait in Neanderthals, and he cites it as evidence of Neanderthals’ superiority. This thesis is in keeping with Bruno’s—and the novel’s—interest in The Prehistoric Roots of Modern Social Organization.

“Rifts are good. Sectarianism among radicals, perhaps not unlike heavy drinking, can nullify threats to the status quo without the need for outside intervention.”

Although a skillful manipulator, Sadie is also an effective spy because of her intellect and wide knowledge base. Here, she accurately observes that sometimes the best way to neutralize the kind of threat that extremism poses to society is to make use of (or perhaps even create) divisions among the radicals themselves. Sadie is well versed in the recent history of European intellectualism as it intersects with various revolutionary movements, and she understands which groups might be more vulnerable than others to sectarian splits.

“In his emails, Bruno’s life in that barn was treated as part of a long and involved process of altering consciousness and retreating from civilization, which he saw as the only solution to this stage of late capitalism.”

Bruno differs from many in anarchist and other far-left circles in that he no longer thinks that revolution is possible. He argues that the working classes are too deeply involved in the capitalist machine and that the only way to live freely is to withdraw from the world. He does put this theory into practice in his own life, living alone and communicating largely via email rather than meeting his acolytes in person. This “anti-civ” position puts Bruno at odds with Pascal and the Moulinards, as they remain committed to the goal of reorganizing society rather than abandoning it.

“Among the meanings of ‘Neire,’ in the ancient name of the region, Bruno said, was bloodshed. Neire was the history of violent struggle in this little valley of the greater Guyenne.”

The Moulinards see this region as a site of struggles both past and present. They draw inspiration from the local Cagots, noting that their rebellion, although not ultimately successful, did challenge the status quo. They see themselves as the inheritors of the Cagots’ legacy and are comfortable with difficulty and willing to use violence if necessary to achieve their goals.

“There is always some tipping point, an incitement so outrageous among the smaller but no less hideous acts, that sweeps people into a full-scale insurrection.”

The politics of revolt and revolution are complex in this text. Bruno and Pascal draw inspiration from past moments of proletarian uprising. Stories such as those of the Cagots help them conceptualize their own acts of rebellion, though Bruno and some of the Moulinards feel that the time for rebellion is past and that the only way forward is to withdraw from society.

“I have nothing to hide from your wife or anyone in Lucien’s family. But you, Robert, you do have things to hide. We both know that.”

Sadie understands that information is power, and this understanding becomes the organizing principle of her life. In this passage, Robert introduces himself to Sadie and explains that he knows she is not who she says she is. Sadie has done her own research and has found out that Robert, too, has secrets. She successfully gains the upper hand in their relationship and manipulates him into lying to his wife. This is one of the many scenes in which Sadie demonstrates her inner fortitude.

“This is what agents do: slip away, disappear, move on to their next assignment.”

Sadie is drawn to the stories of other agents. In them, she sees kindred spirits. Here, while thinking about a woman who was instrumental in infiltrating an anarchist group, she finds a parallel to her own life. She, too, is able to move quickly from one assignment to another, abandoning the individuals with whom she’d had duplicitous, manipulative relationships. This way of life makes her an effective spy and keeps her safe, but it also keeps her isolated and unable to form meaningful relationships.

“Pascal decided that throwing yourself into any project in this society was useless, except for the project of destroying this society.”

Pascal is characterized in large part by his radical ideology and activities. He objects to much about modern society, but his particular interest in Guyenne is in putting a stop to industrialized agriculture. Although he had a variety of interests as a young man, as an adult, his focus is laser-like, and he only has time for political pursuits. Like Bruno, he sees little value in modern society, but unlike Bruno, he still thinks that he can re-shape it.

“Lacombe argued that the proletariat was no longer capable of destroying capitalist society. Instead, the proletariat had become part and parcel of capitalism.”

The nature of radicalism and the views of European anti-capitalists are at the core of this novel. Here, Sadie learns that Bruno has broken from many of his former comrades in his view that revolution is no longer possible and that the only true path forward is to abandon society. By placing juxtaposing Bruno with Pascal, the novel juxtaposes two competing responses to industrial capitalist oppression.

“Cities are a false world, and one that convinces its denizens that there is no other.”

Pascal frequently speaks in aphorisms. Here, he reveals his anti-civilization stance by asserting that there is something inherently inauthentic about cities and that cities perpetuate the falsehood that the urban world is the only relevant world. Both Bruno and Pascal reject this worldview, and for this reason, both men have chosen to make their home in the countryside.

“I am linked to ancient people not as a vague and baggy idea but as little pieces of string examined under an electron microscope.”

In part because of his fierce disdain for contemporary life, Bruno sees himself as the direct descendant of early man, evidence of The Prehistoric Roots of Modern Social Organization. The link between early hominids and contemporary humans, Bruno argues, is not abstract but concrete. He hopes to use his knowledge of Neanderthals to return to ancient patterns of living and ways of being in the world, rejecting organized society entirely.

“Lacombe was against the use of tractors.”

This passage helps illustrate Bruno’s complexity. He is against the use of tractors in part because of his objection to industrialized agriculture and other contemporary social practices. Yet he is also opposed to the tractors because it was in a tractor accident that he lost his daughter. Sadie ultimately discovers several personal, subjective motives for Bruno’s ideological positions, and she realizes that he is less objective and academic than he would like others to believe he is.

“The reason for our success in Nantes was that we had no leaders. Pascal doesn’t want a movement, he wants a fiefdom.”

Both Bruno and Pascal are complex characters, motivated by ideology and their own individual histories and goals. Here, Nadia shares that Pascal is driven by his need to control others and be adored by them. Although an ideologue, he is also vain and ego driven. Sadie uses such human frailties to manipulate her marks. As an absolutist, she believes that the presence of any selfishness or ego in an individual renders all their professed ideals meaningless and false. This extreme cynicism makes her an effective spy but dooms her to an isolated life.

“Know your worth. Know your salt. Know their salt. Proceed accordingly. Few could do what I do.”

Sadie is successful as a spy in part because she is cold and unemotional but also because she is an astute judge of character and interpersonal relations. Here, she obliquely describes the way that she bases her decisions and actions on a complex set of calculations that include both her own capabilities and what others are likely to do. She also acknowledges that her ability to emotionally withdraw from her relationships makes her good at her job, as it is a skill that few possess.

“The old division of labor between men and women reasserts itself when people attempt to live in a commune.”

Despite its radical, egalitarian politics, the commune is not entirely equal in its approach to gender. Much in the way that both Bruno and Pascal embody both ideological and personal motivations, the commune is a complex space of contradictions. The women tend to take care of the household tasks and child-rearing, while the men perform both physical and intellectual labor. That this does not particularly trouble the men strikes Sadie as hypocritical.

“No culture can be defined or should be understood by what doesn’t wash away.”

Bruno is fascinated by The Prehistoric Roots of Modern Social Organization and wants his acolytes to understand the complexity of paleolithic communities. He is scornful of terms like “Stone Age” because, as he points out, items made from substances like wood, cloth, and even feathers do not stand the test of time. While it might appear that Neanderthals used only stone tools, that is just the impression given by the fact that only the stone tools remain. They were actually, he claims, a highly developed and intelligent species that made use of a wide variety of tools.

“This is how it works: if you please the men, you will not necessarily please the women. But if you please the women, you might please the men.”

Sadie understands the complexity of group dynamics well. She knows that what makes her appealing to men, her body, also makes her threatening to women. She manipulates both men and women by managing her interactions with them and thus appeals to both sexes. This kind of interpersonal orchestration is an integral part of her job, and her ability to traverse tricky relationships successfully helps make her an effective secret agent.

“Who amongst these people could be convinced to attack Sub minister Platon?”

Sadie is highly manipulative, and her success in the private sector has come through her willingness to entrap and manipulate suspects in the public sector. While that behavior did get her fired from the FBI, it is an asset in a security world in which individuals and their shadowy companies lack morals and are willing to blur the lines of legality to achieve their goals. Sadie is perfect for this kind of work because she has no moral objection to acting outside of the bounds of the law.

“I want to make it clear to you that I deplore violence in all of its forms.”

Here, Bruno calls out Pascal specifically in one of his emails and separates himself from the Moulinards by espousing a commitment to peace and non-violence. Bruno is a complex character, at once a true radical and a man dedicated to finding alternatives to violence. Although he and the Moulinards share an antipathy toward civilization, there is a deep gulf between the way that Bruno and the Moulinards approach their own orientation toward organized society.

“Farmers are killing themselves. They feel they have no future. We must push back, and with everything we have.”

This passage describes both the conditions for small-scale French farmers and the solidarity felt for them by the Moulinards. These two groups, one intellectual and the other agricultural, are united by their opposition to government control over the region and the industrialization of area agriculture. Both the impact of industrialized agriculture and the way that modernity re-shapes social organization are at the core of this novel’s thematic project, and both themes are evident in the Moulinards’ and farmers’ shared fight against modernization.