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Tim Gautreaux’s The Missing: Journeys of Vengeance or Belonging?

Tim Gautreaux’s The Missing: Journeys of Vengeance or Belonging? <jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Louisiana Catholic author Tim Gautreaux engages questions of violence and revenge in his two most recent novels, <jats:italic>The Clearing</jats:italic> (2003) and <jats:italic>The Missing</jats:italic> (2009). In particular, engaging the popular myth of redemptive violence, <jats:italic>The Missing</jats:italic> explores the attractiveness of this idea before ultimately revealing the falseness of this simplistic approach to evil. This essay draws on Catholic social teaching as well as theologian Walter Wink’s analysis of redemptive violence to investigate the critique of revenge revealed in the novel. Through the protagonist Sam Simoneaux’s wrestling with the possibility of revenge juxtaposed with his uncle’s quiet Catholic-infused teaching, the novel reveals that a journey toward reclaiming a painful past is only possible if the siren song of vengeance is resisted.</jats:p> </jats:sec> http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Religion and the Arts Brill

Tim Gautreaux’s The Missing: Journeys of Vengeance or Belonging?

Religion and the Arts , Volume 15 (1-2): 193 – Jan 1, 2011

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2011 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1079-9265
eISSN
1568-5292
DOI
10.1163/156852911X547529
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Louisiana Catholic author Tim Gautreaux engages questions of violence and revenge in his two most recent novels, <jats:italic>The Clearing</jats:italic> (2003) and <jats:italic>The Missing</jats:italic> (2009). In particular, engaging the popular myth of redemptive violence, <jats:italic>The Missing</jats:italic> explores the attractiveness of this idea before ultimately revealing the falseness of this simplistic approach to evil. This essay draws on Catholic social teaching as well as theologian Walter Wink’s analysis of redemptive violence to investigate the critique of revenge revealed in the novel. Through the protagonist Sam Simoneaux’s wrestling with the possibility of revenge juxtaposed with his uncle’s quiet Catholic-infused teaching, the novel reveals that a journey toward reclaiming a painful past is only possible if the siren song of vengeance is resisted.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Journal

Religion and the ArtsBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2011

Keywords: vengeance; Walter Wink; Tim Gautreaux; nonviolence; The Missing; The Clearing; Catholic social teaching; myth of redemptive violence

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