Les tourments de l’absence dans Gazole de Bertrand Gervais

Karolina Kapołka

Résumé

In his novel entitled Gazole (2001), Bertrand Gervais, a Quebec writer, takes up the issue of suicide and its psychological and social impact. The main character, Lancelot Tremblay, whose job is to write lyrics for a rock band Le Livre des Morts (Eng. The Book of the Dead), hangs himself in his apartment. His naked body with an erect penis is discovered by the other members of the band Gazole and Pyramide. Their reactions to this deadly act are, however, different. Submerging himself in mourning, Pyramide withdraws emotionally from his relationship with his girlfriend Gazole, who, deeply touched by her partner’s newly developed indifference to her, delves into an investigation into the causes of Lancelot’s suicide. Being increasingly fascinated by the figure of Lancelot, Gazole reconstructs a new picture of him. Pieces of memories conjured up by those who knew Lancelot, like incomplete pieces of a puzzle, make Gazole form a romantic image of his absence. The mysterious and tragic figure of the young poet who chose to extinguish himself fires the woman’s imagination, who fantasizes about a sentimental and erotic relationship with him. An emptiness created by the suicide forces the woman to ponder over the nature of death, an eternal absence. Obsessed with this imaginary presence of Lancelot, Gazole has to set herself free from its influence, which causes her to flirt with a razorblade in a bathtub. The foray into Lancelot’s suicide gives Gazole an insight into her own true identity. Gazole discovers her internal feminine strength and frees herself from the shackles of Lancelot’s mental and sexual hold.