In the seventh book in the Inspector Sejer series, Inspector Sejer is missing as is his right-hand man Jakob Scarre. They make token appearances at various points in the book but this is less a police procedural than it is a psychological analysis of amorality, manipulation, arrogance, and ambition. And that is just one of the characters. BAD INTENTIONS is a compulsive reading experience.
Jon Moreno is a man haunted by one night in his life. He went to a party with his two best friends, Axel and Reilly, and changed his life with one bad decision. Jon has locked himself into a moment in his life and he is a resident of a treatment center for the mentally ill. Best friends Axel and Reilly come to the center to take Jon away for a weekend of quietly hanging out and enjoying each others company. Jon is hesitant; he isn’t comfortable with Axel and Reilly. It is as if he fears them but everyone, his mother and the people at the center, believe it will be the helpful to Jon to be out in the world for awhile. But it is Jon who is correct in his discomfort. When the three young men are in a small boat in the middle of the lake, Jon steps off the boat and sinks into the freezing water.
Axel and Reilly present themselves to the world as devastated, shocked that Jon had done such a thing. Axel does most of the pretending. He is a consummate actor, able to present himself to each person in the manner that is most like to appeal to his audience. Reilly realizes that he can’t trust Axel, that Jon’s death leaves him as the only other person who knows what happened that changed their worlds.
Jon’s mother finds his diary. “Every one of us harbors guilt, every one of us has sinned….We have all hated someone and felt envy surge through our bodies. We have all been greedy, we have all taken something that was not rightfully ours. We have all wanted to lash out or scream, we have all felt that rage inside us and perhaps thought the sensation felt good. Yet some people dance their way through life. And those who ought to feel shame, haven’t got the sense to feel it.”
INTENTION – purpose, goal, aim, end. In this case, did the end justifiy the means?. In the sense of intention as end, the end that needs to be protected is Axel’s perfect life as a son of wealth and privilege. Reilly knows that Axel is happy that Jon is gone, Jon, who Axel perceived as the weak link in the chain that bound the three of them to the story about that night in December. The intention is to avoid paying the price for a criminal action. It was Axel’s doing but Jon and Reilly went along with it because they were weak. It was easier than facing Axel’s wrath.
Shame and guilt are necessary in order that people can live in a community. Shame is about dishonor, unworthiness, and disgrace. Jon dies because he has brought dishonor to his family, he has disgraced himself, losing his sense of self-respect because he has been party to something beyond the boundaries of decency. Jon can’t live with what he has become. It is Axel who has truly stepped over the line but he has no moral center.
Fossum has written a simple story about choices that should be simple. It is about choices between truth and lies, between decency and guilt. “A man was in a German prison camp during the war. He was subjected to so many awful things – abuse, torture, starvation and exposure. There were thirty men crammed into a freezing barrack, and the snow blew in under the door. Nevertheless he survived, and when the war ended he returned home. Though he now had plenty of food and warmth, he died shortly afterward. He was haunted by a terrible memory. One night he had stolen a crust of bread from a sleeping man. It was this incident which killed him. He could not bear to eat.” This man gave in to the most elemental human need, the need to survive. Three teenagers did something very wrong, something against basic human decency. One could not live with it. One spends his life getting high. One justifies it. Inspector Sejer is present in the book but he is not the central character. Fossum looks at the things people do that require men like Inspector Sejer to come forward and act for the good of all.
Jon Moreno is a man haunted by one night in his life. He went to a party with his two best friends, Axel and Reilly, and changed his life with one bad decision. Jon has locked himself into a moment in his life and he is a resident of a treatment center for the mentally ill. Best friends Axel and Reilly come to the center to take Jon away for a weekend of quietly hanging out and enjoying each others company. Jon is hesitant; he isn’t comfortable with Axel and Reilly. It is as if he fears them but everyone, his mother and the people at the center, believe it will be the helpful to Jon to be out in the world for awhile. But it is Jon who is correct in his discomfort. When the three young men are in a small boat in the middle of the lake, Jon steps off the boat and sinks into the freezing water.
Axel and Reilly present themselves to the world as devastated, shocked that Jon had done such a thing. Axel does most of the pretending. He is a consummate actor, able to present himself to each person in the manner that is most like to appeal to his audience. Reilly realizes that he can’t trust Axel, that Jon’s death leaves him as the only other person who knows what happened that changed their worlds.
Jon’s mother finds his diary. “Every one of us harbors guilt, every one of us has sinned….We have all hated someone and felt envy surge through our bodies. We have all been greedy, we have all taken something that was not rightfully ours. We have all wanted to lash out or scream, we have all felt that rage inside us and perhaps thought the sensation felt good. Yet some people dance their way through life. And those who ought to feel shame, haven’t got the sense to feel it.”
INTENTION – purpose, goal, aim, end. In this case, did the end justifiy the means?. In the sense of intention as end, the end that needs to be protected is Axel’s perfect life as a son of wealth and privilege. Reilly knows that Axel is happy that Jon is gone, Jon, who Axel perceived as the weak link in the chain that bound the three of them to the story about that night in December. The intention is to avoid paying the price for a criminal action. It was Axel’s doing but Jon and Reilly went along with it because they were weak. It was easier than facing Axel’s wrath.
Shame and guilt are necessary in order that people can live in a community. Shame is about dishonor, unworthiness, and disgrace. Jon dies because he has brought dishonor to his family, he has disgraced himself, losing his sense of self-respect because he has been party to something beyond the boundaries of decency. Jon can’t live with what he has become. It is Axel who has truly stepped over the line but he has no moral center.
Fossum has written a simple story about choices that should be simple. It is about choices between truth and lies, between decency and guilt. “A man was in a German prison camp during the war. He was subjected to so many awful things – abuse, torture, starvation and exposure. There were thirty men crammed into a freezing barrack, and the snow blew in under the door. Nevertheless he survived, and when the war ended he returned home. Though he now had plenty of food and warmth, he died shortly afterward. He was haunted by a terrible memory. One night he had stolen a crust of bread from a sleeping man. It was this incident which killed him. He could not bear to eat.” This man gave in to the most elemental human need, the need to survive. Three teenagers did something very wrong, something against basic human decency. One could not live with it. One spends his life getting high. One justifies it. Inspector Sejer is present in the book but he is not the central character. Fossum looks at the things people do that require men like Inspector Sejer to come forward and act for the good of all.
