In “Auld Lang Syne” Rankin gives a more realistic, but negative insight to Rebus, as someone who is capable of being at fault. Rebus is gullible and deceived in this story, as he allows himself to trust Crawford -an ex-prisoner. He immediately feels that “he was talking to somebody else, someone calmer and less dangerous”, where the repetition of “someone” is ironical, as Rebus appears to trust Crawford on the surface but distances himself from Crawford in his thinking, by calling him ‘someone’. In effect Rankin presents to us Rebus’ naivety, which is traced right throughout the story. Rankin describes how “he was confused, but still suspicious” and the antithesis in “but” provokes a sense of curiosity, making us wonder just how well Rebus is able to judge people.
Rankin uses the structure of the stories to parallel Rebus’ character, such as in Playback where Rebus immediately becomes involved with the murder case. The story beings with a stark and suspenseful statement: ‘It was the perfect murder’, as Rankin builds the tension in the plot right from the beginning. Similarly Rebus is introduced to us in the very first paragraphs, who is ‘worried’ and determined to solve the murder case. As the plot progresses onwards Rankin makes more use of dialogue to enhance the way Rebus investigates and questions his suspects. It makes the story seem more involving and personal to the reader. In this way Rebus’ character becomes more real and alive through dialogue. However in ‘Being Frank’, Rebus doesn’t appear in the story until the middle, which removes the reader’s focus from his character and instead makes us focus closer on Frank. Rankin does this to give the reader additional insight to Frank, but at the same time also uses Rebus’ thoughts to reflect his opinion of Frank, which interestingly contradict each other. For instance Rankin describes how Rebus ‘liked Frank, but there were times …’. The ellipses clearly show Rankin deliberately neglects Rebus’ opinion about Frank, whereas he himself uses the first part of the story to describe Frank. It helps the reader to realise the gradual development of Rebus attitude towards Frank. Yet in the third story, Rankin adds a meaningful twist at the end of the story, as Rebus is deceived by Crawford, just as the reader is too.
Rankin uses different settings through out the stories in order to help us understand Rebus character and the effect that the environment has on him. For instance in “Play back” and “Being Frank” Rankin presents Rebus in solitude where he is capable of being more intelligent. In contrast, in “Auld Lang Syne” Rebus is in Edinburgh surrounded by a “crowd” where he seems to be more interrupted and out of focus.
Rankin raises moral issues through out all three stories. In “Play back”, Rebus investigates and works through very thoroughly until the end with true determination. He doesn’t give up at any point which makes him seem eager to solve his crimes. He invented “other scenarios, other motives and other means to the fairly chilling end”, where Rankin uses the repetition of “other” to emphasise how Rebus is always digging deeper to find more answers rather than accepting the evidence that he already has. Money is a key aspect in “Being Frank”, where towards the end Rankin underlines “the problem with having money: you ended up with decisions to make”. The moral that Rankin establishes here is that people are directed towards the wrong route by money just like the two robbers in the story. In “Auld Lang Syne” Rankin makes trust a key issue as Rebus believes in Crawford right from the beginning when in fact he has been deceiving him the whole time. Nevertheless in the end Rebus comes to understand Crawford “well enough” and overcomes his betrayal. This is signified through his actions as he just “shrugged and let his arm fall to the side” accepting his defeat.
In conclusion, Rankin has put together three stories with the strong moral under pinning. In my opinion, Rebus’ character is inconstant; he changes from a strong and cunning detective into a typical human being who is capable of trusting people. In this way Rankin contrasts Rebus’ role as a detective and a human being to achieve a balance between the two and to show that no character has a fixed role.
