The Testament

“They are vultures circling with clawed feet, sharp teeth, and hungry eyes, giddy with the anticipation of unlimited cash.”

Phelan is describing his family members, who are waiting for him to die with the hope of inheriting his money. The metaphor of predatory animals foreshadows a theme of the novel: the Interconnection of Existential and Physical Dangers. Predators in the Pantanal threaten Nate’s life. Here, the implication is that Phelan’s greedy family members threaten Phelan’s humanity—his capacity to feel empathy and connection—causing him to feel miserable and isolated.

“Troy Phelan’s descent did not reach the level of high drama he had dreamed of. Instead of drifting to earth like an angel, a perfect swan dive with the silk robe trailing behind, and landing in death before his terror-stricken families, who he’d imagined would be leaving the building at just the right moment, his fall was witnessed only by a lowly payroll clerk, hustling through the parking lot after a very long lunch in the bar.”

Several times in the novel, Phelan’s lawyers, Josh and Durban, note that Phelan is controlling events from beyond the grave to ensure that his family does not get his money. Yet in the end, Phelan’s family members do end up with a sizeable inheritance from his estate. The bathos in the above passage anticipates this outcome.

“What Hark desperately wanted was a will contest—a long vicious fight with packs of lawyers filing tons of legal crap. A trial would be wonderful, a high-profile battle over one of the largest estates in America, with Hark in the center. Winning it would be nice, but winning wasn’t crucial. He’d make a fortune, and he’d become famous, and that’s what modern lawyering was all about.”

Hark’s thoughts exemplify the novel’s attention to the combative and competitive elements of legal practice in the United States. It is not simply about resolving a dispute among aggrieved parties but creating a drama and putting oneself at the center. The description of Hark as animated by the combat and competition is echoed, to varying degrees, in descriptions of Josh Stafford, Judge Wycliff, and even Nate, who was both drawn to the combat and competition and unable to withstand the pressure of it and felt himself losing his humanity. By contrast, Hark, Josh, and Wycliff are portrayed as more capable of maintaining a sense of balance, a key motif in the novel.

“Troy wanted his greedy children to enjoy one last spending spree before he jerked the rug from under them. It was mean and cruel, vintage Troy.”

Phelan’s cruelty is established in the two opening chapters that he narrates, and the novel repeatedly returns to this characterization. Even to his last breath, he failed to show his children love and care, and they become products of their family environment. By contrast, Nate’s arc shows him realizing the ways that he has failed his children and striving to make amends with them.

“Nate stared at the map, especially the Paraguay River as it wound and looped its way northward in the direction of the Indian settlements. Somewhere along the river, hopefully in proximity to it, in the midst of this vast wetlands, was a simple servant of God, living each day in peace and tranquility, thinking little of the future, quietly ministering to her flock.”

The narrative repeatedly describes the Pantanal as a life force in itself, almost as a place beyond the reaches of time and human control. Though it has been exploited, it has also endured. The above passage associates Rachel with the Pantanal, characterizing her as one who is fully connected and at peace with her mission, unconcerned with the dramas playing out around her. Rachel has extricated herself from the flow of “progress” that the novel suggests defines the United States and dedicated herself to the Ipicas.

“He could sell this back home. He had friends who were into extreme vacations—backpackers and whitewater rafters, gorilla trekkers, safari types always trying to outdo the rest with tales of near-death experiences on the other side of the world. Throw in the ecological angle of the Pantanal, and for ten thousand dollars they would gladly hop on a pony and wade through swamps, photographing snakes and alligators along the way.”

At this point in the narrative, Nate has safely emerged from a horse ride through the Pantanal and its many dangers (alligators, snakes, etc.) with his host’s young children. While Nate was anxious about the wildlife, the children are completely at ease. Though his experiences in Brazil contribute to his transformation, and he develops genuine relationships, ultimately he is an outsider who views it as a “primitive” place that can be exploited for what it has to offer. This contrasts with Rachel and missionaries who are not presented as extractive.

“The more time the Phelan heirs spent with their lawyers, the more they distrusted each other.”

The narrative repeatedly stresses that while having money can improve people’s quality of life, pursuing it above all else makes people unhappy and lonely. Phelan and his family members have all fallen into this trap. Getting as much money as they can becomes more important to them than their family and community. Though they succeed at increasing their bank accounts at the end of the novel, the implication is that their characters will remain corrupted by money.

“Addicts know no shame. You disgrace yourself so many times you become immune to it.”

Here, Nate reflects on the effects of his addiction to drugs and alcohol. The statement also applies to Phelan and his family members, who are addicted to money and material possessions. In both cases, the need to feed the addiction trumps all else.

“Time had stopped. His wristwatch was in his pocket. His collection of hourly, daily, weekly, monthly planners was long forgotten. His trial calendar, the one great inviolate map of his life, had been tucked away in some secretary’s drawer.”

Grisham frequently discusses the mutability of time, and how people experience it, throughout the novel. In the so-called “progressive” United States, time moves quickly in the novel, so quickly that people do not have time to reflect on why they are doing what they do and whether their actions are correct. Nate had multiple planners and a calendar that “mapped” his life, taking him from one appointment and task to the next, but they did not provide him with existential stability. The narrative contrasts his life map with the map of the Pantanal that Jevy and Nate consult, which is of the landscape that remains largely unchanged in its cycles and rhythms.

“The story grew. It shot from the courthouse on the waves of the latest telecommunications gadgets and hi-tech hardware. The reporters scrambled with cell phones and laptops and pagers, talking without thinking.”

The Testament is concerned with the effects of change and technological “progress” in contrast with tradition. The passage above shows this with the phenomenon of gossip. The Phelan case attracts great attention because it is high stakes, and technology enables information to move faster and less personally. However, the desire to talk about what is happening in one’s community is a constant. While Nate is in Brazil searching for Rachel, he relies heavily on local social networks and the way information passes from mouth to mouth. While in the Pantanal, for example, Jevy and Nate stop at a trading post to ask if anyone has seen a woman missionary passing through. During their river journey, they routinely stop to ask anyone they encounter for information or directions.

“Jevy was a poor Brazilian boy of twenty-four. Nate was twice his age and for most of his career had had plenty of money. Yet Jevy had seen much more of the United States than Nate.

When the money was good, though, Nate had always traveled to Europe. His favorite restaurants were in Rome and Paris.”

Grisham grows the tension between tradition and progress here. The narrator notices that Jevy and Nate are drawn to whatever they do not have. Jevy lives a traditional life, following in the footsteps of his father, and he is drawn to the United States and the opportunities that it can offer him that home cannot. American Nate, on the other hand, is drawn to the past, represented by Rome and Paris, two cities with long histories that are defined by their adherence to their own traditions.

“It was a sick and violent history. If the Indians were peaceful and tried to cooperate with the colonists, they were subject to strange diseases—smallpox, measles, yellow fever, influenza, tuberculosis—for which they had no natural defenses. If they did not cooperate, they were slaughtered by men using weapons more sophisticated than arrows and poison darts. When they fought back and killed their attackers, they were branded as savages.”

During his journey through the Pantanal, Nate reads a book about the history of Brazil’s Indigenous populations. This passage encapsulates the double bind they are in. Each option encapsulates the interconnection of existential and physical dangers. The trials that Brazil’s indigenous people have survived at the hands of “progress” calls into question the desirability of change.

“This struck Nate as funny—the primitive natives yet to discover clothing but following a complicated system of rules.”

In the above passage, Rachel has been explaining to Nate the complex social rituals to which he must adhere while among the Ipicas. Rachel, who lives among them, largely respects and adheres to their rituals, even as she preaches a new religion to them. As an outsider, Nate measures the Ipicas by his standards for “civilization”—reflected in the fact that he sees clothing as a norm—assuming that because the Ipicas maintain centuries-old traditions that they lack complexity, sophistication, and organization.

“I have perfect peace, Nate. I surrendered my will to Christ many years ago, and I follow wherever He leads. You think I’m lonely—you’re wrong. He is with me every step of the way. He knows my thoughts, my needs, and He takes away my fears and worries. I am completely and perfectly at peace in this world.”

When Nate meets with Rachel, he assumes that her missionary work is a form of hiding—from her past pain. Like the Phelan children and their lawyers, Nate cannot understand why else she would forsake so-called “civilization” to live among the Ipicas. Here, she expresses that her motivation is not to run from but to run to: She has accepted her calling and does not question it. She peacefully reflects on the interconnection of existential and physical dangers.

“‘It’s okay,’ Nate said again, anxious to help. The tears of a woman melted the facade of coolness, whether in a bar or sitting by a river.”

In this passage, Nate is comforting a tearful Rachel, who has had a difficult day. It provides an example of the way the narrative meditates on Reciprocity in Social and Family Networks, whether it is the desire to compete, to connect, or to comfort one who is suffering.

“Hemba and Hamilton were big-firm lawyers, unaccustomed to the dirt and grime from the streets. Not that they or their ilk were beyond corruption, but their clients were rich corporations that used lobbyists for legal bribery to land fat government contracts and hide money in Swiss accounts for foreign despots, all with the help of their trusty lawyers. But because they were big-firm lawyers they quite naturally looked down upon the type of unethical behavior being suggested by Hark, and condoned by Grit and Bright and the other ham-and-eggers.”

Here, the Phelan family lawyers strategize over how best to make use of Snead and his willingness to create whatever narrative they need to win their case, for a fee. The behavior of the “big-firm lawyers” is not more ethical than that of the “ham-and-eggers.” It is only the methods that differ. The former cloak their corruption in fancy dress, but in essence, they are the same. Their behavior relates to the symbol of the vulture that initiates a sense of predation around money in the novel.

“Because he was a rich American, they cut no corners.”

The above passage refers to the treatment that Nate is given at the hospital in Corumbá. The novel consistently suggests that money can solve certain problems. For example, Ayesh dies in Chapter 29 because Rachel does not have the antivenin that she needs to treat her effectively; Rachel’s trips to Corumbá are made more difficult because she does not have the money to repair her motorboat. In the novel, money is helpful and necessary, but the pursuit of it in excess corrupts.

“If dengue fever didn’t get poor Nate, the IRS was waiting.”

In its exploration of the interconnection of existential and physical dangers, the novel repeatedly suggests that it is not possible to avoid them completely. Rachel, for example, pursues her existential purpose, which puts her in greater physical danger; she dies of malaria. Here, this stance is applied to Nate, who experiences a life-threatening illness in Brazil and potential imprisonment in the United States.

“The news never changed: trouble in the Middle East, trouble in Ireland; scandals in Congress; the markets were up then down; an oil spill; another AIDS drug; guerrillas killing peasants in Latin American; turmoil in Russia.”

Here, Nate has newly returned to the United States and noticing how the news always seems to circle around the same crises. This emphasis on a lack of change in an American culture is presented as ironic in a novel that suggests that American culture valorizes and initiates change.

“Two days of pleasant labor yielded little progress in the chilly basement of Trinity Church. But much coffee was consumed, the lamb stew was finally finished, some paint and wallboard fell into place, and a friendship was built.”

Repeatedly across the novel, Nate experiences both frustration with and appreciation of the slower pace of life in Brazil. He knows that the frantic pace of his legal career contributed to his alcohol addiction, but he also craves something to drive him. While he grew from and appreciated his experiences in Corumbá, his life is in the United States, and he must find his mission there. In the above passage, he begins to do so by connecting with and helping Father Phil, in the process discovering that a slower pace of life allows time for him to build relationships, as he did with Rachel, and these provide purpose. This realization contributes to the falling action of the novel.

“You can’t beat yourself up, Nate. You’re allowed to forget the past. God certainly has. Paul murdered Christians before he became one, and he didn’t flail himself for what he’d been before. Everything is forgiven. Show your kids what you are now.”

Here, Father Phil counsels Nate, who is about to travel cross-country to make amends with his children. This passage emphasizes the fact that Nate is Phelan’s foil who seeks forgiveness from and reconciliation with his children.

“Josh reviewed the motion to dismiss with admiration. He loved the legal maneuvering, the ploys and tactics, and when someone, even an opponent, got it right, he silently applauded. Everything about Hark’s move was perfect—the timing, the rationale, the superbly argued brief.”

Though the novel is critical of the legal profession, this criticism is balanced by an appreciation for lawyers who get it “right,” whether because they take a compassionate stance, protect their clients’ interests, or concern themselves with justice in a broader sense. Wycliff, for example, would enjoy a drawn-out acrimonious legal battle over Phelan’s will but ultimately does what is needed to resolve the dispute. Here, Josh shows his appreciation for his opponent, even when it means that he will not “win” to the degree that he might have hoped. His appreciation outlines the qualities of a legal-suspense thriller.

“The final act of neglect by their father had been his handwritten will. They would never understand the malice of the man who’d spurned them as children, chastised them as adults, and erased them as heirs.”

When all the lawyers gather to discuss a settlement, Hark elicits sympathy for Phelan's children even from his opponents. As disastrous as the Phelan children’s behavior has been and as much as Josh, Wycliff, and Nate privately agree that it would not benefit them or anyone else to inherit their father’s estate, they are capable of understanding that the children are, at least to some extent, products of their environment. Their father neglected his responsibility as a parent to support and nurture them into adulthood, and the lawyers recognize the lack of reciprocity in social and family networks.