Woman on Fire

Chapters 10-19 further Ellis’s character development, adding depth but also relying on a stereotypical trope: the gay male fashion designer. Nevertheless, his depth comes not from the fact that he has a male lover while being married to a woman, but from the fact that he is willing to jeopardize his relationship with his lover, Henri, to acquire the painting. Readers also gain more insight into Ellis’s childhood and his mother’s character. While the narrator describes Anika as being “ahead of her time” (95), citing her artsy nature and nonjudgmental attitude regarding Ellis’s fun in wearing her shoes, none of that behavior was ahead of its time. In the 1920s, Berlin was full of artistic types, and not just painters, but filmmakers, actors/actresses, authors, poets, etc. Moreover, 1920s Berlin was open to the gay community, and few, if any, in the art world would have batted an eye at people like Anika and Ellis.

Through art and Margaux’s relationship with it, her character is also further developed as a tragic figure. The reader learns more about the importance of her relationship with her grandfather, which was one of the defining aspects of her childhood and that influenced her throughout her psychological/emotional development. The close ties she has to her grandfather are the anchor to her humanity, but through Adam, readers discover her tragic flaw: She protects herself by dominating others. She has a weakness for Adam, though, and wants him more than he wants her. This weakness allows Adam to turn the tables and become the one to manipulate her.

These chapters also develop the correlation between Margaux and the Woman on Fire painting. She likes the painting for the memory of her grandfather, but also because she sees herself in it. This is juxtaposed with Adam’s painting of Margaux, in which she is dressed only in gladiator-style heels and is standing atop the world, symbolizing her sexuality as a means of dominance and her ambition to control the world—or at least her world. The juxtaposition of these two paintings serve to contrast how Margaux sees herself versus how others see her, thus highlighting The Power and Influence of Art.

This theme is also apparent in Jules’s interactions with Adam. Adam is not only established as Jules’s (and Margaux’s) love interest in the story, but also as the character most searching for redemption. The person Jules gets to know is juxtaposed with the person he once was, and his art establishes the link between his two selves. Adam’s art is portrayed as a type of neo-Expressionism, linking it to the concentration on German Expressionism in the novel. Referring to his previous heroin addiction facilitated by Margaux, Adam makes a comment about destruction helping sell art, referencing Van Gogh. Perhaps self-destruction helped Adam sell his art, but Van Gogh struggled mightily to sell his art during his life. It is possible that Adam is arguing that Van Gogh’s suicide helped to sell his art afterward.

The mysterious death of Margaux’s father is significant in these chapters. In Missoula, Dan discloses that just before her father died, he was to construct the family’s largest gallery yet, a $50 million project in Chelsea, but the project was stopped. Adam is visibly nervous when the topic arises, and readers discover via Jules’s flashback to her time in Missoula that Adam admits to her—“off the record”—that he was on the yacht when Margaux’s father died. Carice was as well, prompting Jules’s visit to her. The reader does not find out in detail what happened on Margaux’s yacht, aside from the fact that her father died and that Carice and Adam were present. This creates a new cliff-hanger and suggests further villainy on Margaux’s part. Finally, Adam’s disclosures to Jules about the yacht incident illustrate how he and Jules are growing closer together and establishing trust, but Jules’s commitment to maintaining that trust is unclear.

The Ethical and Moral Responsibilities of Investigative Journalism therefore feature prominently in this section. Dan’s rules of journalism arise several times, foreshadowing Jules breaking the rules and visiting Carice. While Jules is seeking valuable information, she dances around ethical boundaries to obtain it: Jules does not act transparently in her interaction with Carice and attempts to trick her, which Carice is able to discern. The interview suggests that Jules has done something that will have later repercussions, which does indeed happen. The scene illustrates Jules’s inexperience and naivete, which not only give her character necessary flaws but also the chance to learn and grow. Ethics come to the fore once more through Jules’s interactions with Adam, who is established as a love interest. To get closer to him will mean breaking Jules’s personal rule about becoming involved with people she works with.

The investigative team grows with the addition of Bram Bakker, whom the author Lisa Barr admits is based on the real-life art detective, Arthur Brand. Through Bakker, readers receive additional background regarding reparations of Nazi-looted art, but also a glimpse of Bakker’s pragmatic nature: He agrees to work on the case but is transparent with Ellis that even if they are successful in locating Woman on Fire, it won’t bring his mother back. Ellis is wealthy and desperate enough not to care about Bakker’s warnings. Further, these warnings serve more as a diversion for readers, reminding them that the outcome they anticipate probably won’t transpire.

With Bakker, the team becomes stronger in that Margaux de Laurent is identified as a possible suspect, which is important because the lines between Jules and her people must be clearly separated from Margaux and hers. Also key is the introduction of the Dassel family, whose history and behavior are crucial in finding the painting. The Dassels will play a role in a significant plot twist at the end of the novel.