I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to call Misericorde an anti-mystery story (whether or not it is will depend a lot on subsequent installments), but its protagonist Hedwig is absolutely an anti-detective. Misericorde mainly plays with the dynamics between group and detective. In mystery stories, the detective and the reader are always one step removed from the inciting incident. The detective is typically an outsider to the rest of the cast, and through their skills they are able to put together the story perfectly. They read through everybody, and in the end they understand what happened better than the people who were much closer to the incident. Misericorde adapts this 'outsider' dynamic, but plays with it by making its 'detective' incredibly unfit to handle that role. We see a lot of socially awkward detectives in fiction, but in Misericorde we see how being unable to read other people makes investigation borderline impossible. By the end of Misericorde's first volume, Hedwig has achieved very little progress in solving the mystery or finding leads. While mysteries are set up, XEECEE seems much more interested in the exploration of social dynamics, particularly in relation to this tension of the outsider. Misericorde is primarily about this fear of not only non-understanding, but having to reckon with the idea that a full understanding might not ever be possible, that some gulfs between people are ultimately irreconcilable. So while XEECEE is very much playing with the typical role of the detective, the way it's executed is less about a critique of the mystery genre (as it is in Umineko) and more a means of depicting social alienation.
Hedwig's outsider status is obvious in the 'fish out of water' sense. As an anchoress, Hedwig has spent her entire life as a shut-in, with nearly all of her social interactions involving the transaction of information. When she is sent out, everyone is aware that her position has left her socially stunted, but the levels of sympathy towards that range from character to character. Not only does Hedwig not know how to connect with them, they're also unsure of how to connect with her. She acclimates to life in the convent as it goes, but that social tension is still there in every conversation, even the more sympathetic ones. While I think it would be a bit much to call Misericorde an autistic allegory, I do think there's an interesting echoing of autistic experience in this regard (whether intentional or not). Another obvious tension is that Hedwig's investigation is meant to be secret. While it is only officially known by her and the Mother Superior, Hedwig is always uncertain as to how much of an object of suspicion she is amongst the other nuns. This is typical in detective stories, but whereas the detective goes into interactions just for the purpose of solving the mystery, Hedwig has a sincere desire to connect to the other nuns and escape her loneliness. The problem is that the 'detective' role makes all of her interactions transactional. It's a position that requires doing every social interaction as if you're walking on eggshells, making the trust that meaningful connections are built upon impossible. In addition to this desire she also has a total contempt for the other characters, stemming from the disconnection they have towards religious matters. One mark of great character writing is the sense that characters are contradictory without necessarily being 'out of character', and I think XEECEE makes it believable that Hedwig would simultaneously be a deeply misanthropic zealot and a lonely woman desperate for connection. Hedwig not only has to participate in social dynamics that she's unfamiliar with - she is in a position where she can never fully reveal herself, she is always performing. The fish out of water story and the detective story is usually about the protagonist's gradual development towards a greater understanding, but in Misericorde we have a protagonist who is perpetually alienated.
Out of the many excellently written character dynamics in Misericorde, my favorite is the one between Hedwig and Eustace, where this problem of simultaneous connection and disconnection is at its strongest. Hedwig comes much closer to Eustace than anyone else in the story, and there are times where we sense a true companionship emerging. However, there is another gulf between Hedwig and the other nuns, which is their relationship to Catherine, the story's murder victim. Most of the nuns are grieving, and Hedwig is too, but in a very different context. Hedwig only knows Catherine briefly before her murder, while the others have a much greater sense of who she was. So while Hedwig also grieves, she mourns the fact that she never got the opportunity to know Catherine beyond the one moment they shared together. She can't mourn Catherine herself as the others do. When she asks the other nuns about her it obviously serves her investigation, but she also does this as a way to resolve that mourning. It's this hope that the gap can be fulfilled, that she can 'know' Catherine through their answers. However, her investigation is also outright invasive to the grief of the other nuns, driving yet another wedge between the characters. Eustace is the one who was closest to Catherine and the one who seems to have the most knowledge on her murder, but every time Hedwig pushes her on this it becomes more and more apparent that she cannot ever 'know' Catherine or understand Eustace's pain. Hedwig and Eustace simultaneously have the closest bond and the largest disconnect for this reason. This dynamic builds into an excellent climactic scene that speaks to this pain and terror of the idea that you can never understand anything that you haven't directly experienced. The truth gets increasingly inaccessible.
What interests me about future installments is whether they'll stick to this idea of a detective story driven by social disconnect and alienation, and whether the story will be able to give answers while sticking to this concept. It's pretty heavily implied in the framing device (if not stated, since I'm writing this from memory) that Hedwig's investigation ultimately fails, which is very consistent with the setup so far. I still think we might get answers, but they'll likely be delivered in a not-so-straightforward way (akin to how the When They Cry series gives them). I'll try and write followup reviews for the future installments, and see if my argument on what I think the series is holds up.
Hedwig's outsider status is obvious in the 'fish out of water' sense. As an anchoress, Hedwig has spent her entire life as a shut-in, with nearly all of her social interactions involving the transaction of information. When she is sent out, everyone is aware that her position has left her socially stunted, but the levels of sympathy towards that range from character to character. Not only does Hedwig not know how to connect with them, they're also unsure of how to connect with her. She acclimates to life in the convent as it goes, but that social tension is still there in every conversation, even the more sympathetic ones. While I think it would be a bit much to call Misericorde an autistic allegory, I do think there's an interesting echoing of autistic experience in this regard (whether intentional or not). Another obvious tension is that Hedwig's investigation is meant to be secret. While it is only officially known by her and the Mother Superior, Hedwig is always uncertain as to how much of an object of suspicion she is amongst the other nuns. This is typical in detective stories, but whereas the detective goes into interactions just for the purpose of solving the mystery, Hedwig has a sincere desire to connect to the other nuns and escape her loneliness. The problem is that the 'detective' role makes all of her interactions transactional. It's a position that requires doing every social interaction as if you're walking on eggshells, making the trust that meaningful connections are built upon impossible. In addition to this desire she also has a total contempt for the other characters, stemming from the disconnection they have towards religious matters. One mark of great character writing is the sense that characters are contradictory without necessarily being 'out of character', and I think XEECEE makes it believable that Hedwig would simultaneously be a deeply misanthropic zealot and a lonely woman desperate for connection. Hedwig not only has to participate in social dynamics that she's unfamiliar with - she is in a position where she can never fully reveal herself, she is always performing. The fish out of water story and the detective story is usually about the protagonist's gradual development towards a greater understanding, but in Misericorde we have a protagonist who is perpetually alienated.
Out of the many excellently written character dynamics in Misericorde, my favorite is the one between Hedwig and Eustace, where this problem of simultaneous connection and disconnection is at its strongest. Hedwig comes much closer to Eustace than anyone else in the story, and there are times where we sense a true companionship emerging. However, there is another gulf between Hedwig and the other nuns, which is their relationship to Catherine, the story's murder victim. Most of the nuns are grieving, and Hedwig is too, but in a very different context. Hedwig only knows Catherine briefly before her murder, while the others have a much greater sense of who she was. So while Hedwig also grieves, she mourns the fact that she never got the opportunity to know Catherine beyond the one moment they shared together. She can't mourn Catherine herself as the others do. When she asks the other nuns about her it obviously serves her investigation, but she also does this as a way to resolve that mourning. It's this hope that the gap can be fulfilled, that she can 'know' Catherine through their answers. However, her investigation is also outright invasive to the grief of the other nuns, driving yet another wedge between the characters. Eustace is the one who was closest to Catherine and the one who seems to have the most knowledge on her murder, but every time Hedwig pushes her on this it becomes more and more apparent that she cannot ever 'know' Catherine or understand Eustace's pain. Hedwig and Eustace simultaneously have the closest bond and the largest disconnect for this reason. This dynamic builds into an excellent climactic scene that speaks to this pain and terror of the idea that you can never understand anything that you haven't directly experienced. The truth gets increasingly inaccessible.
What interests me about future installments is whether they'll stick to this idea of a detective story driven by social disconnect and alienation, and whether the story will be able to give answers while sticking to this concept. It's pretty heavily implied in the framing device (if not stated, since I'm writing this from memory) that Hedwig's investigation ultimately fails, which is very consistent with the setup so far. I still think we might get answers, but they'll likely be delivered in a not-so-straightforward way (akin to how the When They Cry series gives them). I'll try and write followup reviews for the future installments, and see if my argument on what I think the series is holds up.
sirconnie
1 month ago