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Commission
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Turning, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Memory
Family, Violence, and Love
Addiction
Belonging and Escape
Regret and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Bob Lang, still a policeman in Angelus and early in his descent into alcoholism, is sitting in his police van. He has been sent out of town to serve court summonses. The work is below his rank and is a clear insult and sign that the other policemen do not trust him, but he appreciates the time alone. Lang is drinking on the job, and gripped with regret over what he has become. He reflects on how, moving to Angelus ten months ago, he was excited for a quiet coastal posting, much better than the alternatives out in the desert. The problem is not Angelus, however, but his colleagues, who clearly know more than they tell him. At first, he wondered if it was because of his reputation as a “straight arrow,” but since then Lang has “gone from being uneasy to feeling unsafe.”
This chapter, which focuses on Bob Lang, sheds more light on his addiction and on police corruption in Angelus, albeit largely indirectly. Bob only has vague suspicions of what is afoot, as the other policemen have intentionally kept him away from any cases that could expose their illegal activities. Furthermore, readers already know that threats have been made against Bob and his family. Unable to trust anyone at work and unwilling to confide in his family for fear of further endangering them, Bob turns to drinking to cope with his feeling of utter powerlessness.
Themes
As he sips cheap brandy from a flask, Lang tries to convince himself that his drinking problem is a temporary reaction to stress, and that he can uncover the corruption amongst the police and repair his relationship with his family. Deep down, however, he knows his only option is to keep his head down and apply to be transferred elsewhere. The radio calls in a report of mountain climbers lost on a hike. Frustrated, knowing he will miss dinner at home now, Lang sets out to join the search.
While Bob has on some level already given up hope that he can change his situation, he continues to rationalize and justify his behavior as an extraordinary reaction to extraordinary circumstances. At the same time, he clings to the elements of family life he has left, treasuring dinner at home with Carol, Vic, and Kerry.
Themes
Lang arrives at the foot of the mountain, called the Dial, and gets a poncho, his brandy, and his antacids, which he takes for his stomach, ravaged by alcohol. He meets his colleague Macklin, who explains the situation: a couple were hiking, and one of them (the missing climber) fell down the slope into thickets. Lang and Macklin each take a group of volunteer rescuers to search different paths, hoping to be done by dark. Bob goes back to the truck for a walkie-talkie and sets off with his group, observing the natural beauty around him despite the circumstances. He instructs the group to split up along the path and search for the missing climber. As he starts to search further down the incline on a hunch, he is joined by an adolescent girl, a journalist, and a cadet.
Bob’s need for antacids is a sign that his drinking is already starting to affect his health, beginning with his digestive system. His relationship with Macklin, too, expresses his general paranoia: while the conspiracy seems to be led by the detectives, Bob feels he cannot trust any other police officer, whether Macklin is in on it or not.
Themes
As Lang moves down the slope through the thickets, the journalist follows him, asking questions about the search. She is clearly excited by the career opportunity, which annoys him. The vegetation gets increasingly thick, and they struggle to move through it, but the girl does not question his lead. Against his better judgment, Lang leads them further and further in. Struggling to see anything, he boosts her up on his shoulders to get a better view. As he does so, he drops something. He worries it is his brandy flask but, to his relief, it is just the walkie-talkie. Unfortunately, there is no longer a radio signal and Lang cannot contact Macklin. As she climbs back down, he asks her to repeat her name, which he was not paying attention to earlier: Marie.
The severity of Bob’s alcoholism, which has gotten far worse than he’s willing to admit to himself, comes through in his desire to sneak a sip of brandy in at the first available opportunity. To Bob, then, controlling himself in front of Marie becomes a test of his own willpower just as much as it is self-preservation, avoiding the scandal that would come from a journalist learning that he is drinking on the job.
Themes
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Marie is clearly nervous that they have gotten lost, but Lang reassures her, and they prepare to go back up the slope. Suddenly, however, Marie hears something. At first Lang dismisses it, but soon he notices it, too. As they prepare to crawl further down through the thickets, Lang pictures Marie’s life, and hopes that soon his son, Vic, will bring home girls like her. Pressing through, they find the missing climber, who has lost consciousness and whose legs are clearly broken. Marie’s first reaction is to take a picture, with flash, which angers Lang, but he does not say anything.
Bob’s wish for Vic to have a better life demonstrates both how strong Bob’s love for his family still is and how deeply disillusioned he has become, feeling that he will get no more second chances.
Themes
It is nearly dark, and Lang’s shouts for help go unheard. When he suggests either that Marie go back up the slope to get help, or that she wait with the climber, she insists against it. Afraid, she begins to cry. Angry at both her and the climber, Lang thinks over his options. To calm Marie down, he asks her to climb up on a rock and yell for help, which she does. As she is up on the rock, he considers having a sip of brandy and takes out his flask. Suddenly he is full of shame and anger at himself, imagining the scandal if a reporter knew he was drinking on the job. Lang considers putting the flask in the climber’s jacket but cannot bring himself to plant evidence. Instead, he throws the flask as hard as he can up the hill, telling Marie it was a rock.
In throwing his flask away, Bob experiences a powerful if temporary surge of both dignity and self-control, albeit one motivated by the need to protect his own reputation, too. His unwillingness to plant the flask on the climber corresponds reflects his reputation of being a stickler for the rules, refusing to cut procedural corners, let alone engage in corrupt or illicit activities.
Themes
Accepting that they will be there all night, Lang suggests they lie down on each side of the climber to stay warm. Marie is distraught, both because of the situation and because she expected to be better able to handle it. Lang tells her a story. A few months prior, he was the first responder after a boy was hit by a car. Lang waited with him as he died, and then had to tell his parents. Marie asks Lang to stop, but he tells the story till the end; he feels good, like he has had a drink. He wants to keep talking, and almost tells her about the police corruption in Angelus, but stops himself just in time, knowing it could only backfire on him.
The fact that Bob’s confession to Marie gives him the same sense of relief that drinking does adds weight to the conclusion that his addiction is a response to psychological need: the need to speak out, something practical circumstances have made impossible for him. While Bob feels empowered for the first time in a long while, he quickly stops himself, as continuing to speak would only endanger him and his family further. The relief Bob feels thus only leads to greater despair afterward, as its limited, temporary nature becomes clear to him.
Themes
As they try to sleep, Lang wishes he still had the brandy. He asks Marie for her camera. Soon she starts to cry, but Lang says nothing to her, feeling that he no longer has anything to say in this situation and in his life. He waits for the fog to break, intending to use the camera flash to attract the other rescuers. Lang muses on the story Marie will have, thinking to himself that though it will be a great story, “none of it would be true.”
Bob’s thoughts returning to his brandy shows how utterly he has given up, feeling resigned to his fate. At the same time, he continues to exercise his job to this best of his ability, thinking practically about how to most efficiently call for help. Disillusioned with the ineffectual nature of the truth, Bob feels he can do no more than the job he is given and has no recourse but to use self-destructive coping mechanisms to deal with his situation.
Themes
