In the Lake of the Woods

Who is Kathy Wade? In many ways, her character is a mystery at the heart of the novel. Beautiful, intelligent, funny, and idealistic, Kathy falls in love with John when she is 18 years old. Why would Kathy stay with a man for nearly 20 years who spies on her, stalks her, and frightens her with his hostile, possessive, controlling behavior?

Part of the answer lies in the fact that some part of Kathy loved knowing that he spied on her, and that she could evade him at will. She knew that he was following her and spying on her, but she also knew how to avoid him whenever she wanted to do things that she didn’t want him to know about. For example, she had at least one boyfriend while John was away in Vietnam, and after they are married, she has an affair, which she successfully kept from him, at least for a time.

Both John and Kathy were equally invested, in different ways, in the spying and the secrets, and got different kinds of emotional satisfaction from it. The spying and secrets were in the foundation of their relationship.

Yet Kathy is not a victim: she has an independent job, and she stands next to her husband through all of his political campaigns. Her character, resilient and independent, perhaps gives the reader the only answer there is: she had an internal life that sustained her in her marriage. She had personal strength, friendships, and her sister to support her through the bad times with John. 

Kathy’s sister, whose quotations appear in the Evidence chapters and who helps to search for Kathy, serves as a critical voice in the narrative. Pat doesn’t like John, and she resents his controlling behavior toward her sister. To Pat, John’s crimes include forcing Kathy to live a life she didn’t want, as exemplified by Kathy’s abortion, and asking Kathy to play the role of the politician’s smiling wife, when Kathy hated politics. She asks John if he did something to Kathy, and she seems to accept his answer that he didn’t. Nevertheless, she remains skeptical and critical of him throughout the lake search.

However, in the interview portions several years later, she seems unwilling to talk. For example, in her 1990 interview, she says, “’Look, I can’t discuss this’” (12). Later, she says, “‘My sister seemed almost scared of him sometimes. I remember this one time when Kathy . . . Look, I don’t think it’s something we should talk about’” (26). If she believes that John had something to do with Kathy’s disappearance, why would she hold back? If Kathy is dead, what difference could it possibly make what she says about Kathy and John’s life together? It would only matter if Kathy were alive and didn’t want John to be unfairly blamed for her death.

Though her time with John at the Lake of the Woods is very tense, Pat never directly blames John for Kathy’s disappearance. Four years later, she doesn’t want to discuss Kathy’s disappearance at all. The reader may draw some conclusions from that.

Pat’s strength also contrasts sharply with Kathy’s more easy-going and malleable character. Pat reminds the reader that Kathy rarely challenges or contradicts John, and that for all the years they were married she participated in a political process that she hated, all for the love of her husband and to support his goals. 

Crass, unattractive, outspoken, and a brilliant strategist, Tony is a professional political operator who runs John Wade’s election campaigns. Tony’s character is significant because he is the only person to see through all of John’s tricks and manipulations. He sees all of John’s flaws, and he still likes him and wants to work with him.

Of all the characters in the novel, Tony sees John the most clearly, and he even tries to help Kathy see who John really is. However, Kathy doesn’t want to know the seedy or seamier side of her husband; she only wants to see the idealist fighting for the rights of the little guy. She refuses to see that John is not just that person, and she becomes angry with Tony when he tries to help her wise-up. Tony also has a tremendous crush on Kathy, which he makes clear to both John and Kathy at every opportunity.

Tony’s insights in the Evidence portions of the novel provide the most compassionate and realistic views of John. He is the only person to see John as a real person; even Claude Rasmussen wants to see John as some sort of wronged and persecuted man on the run. Tony’s comments are particularly valuable because they mirror the narrator’s point of view: though Tony does not use emotional language, his psychological portrait of John is insightful. 

A millionaire businessman who supported John’s senate candidacy, Claude offers his cabin to the Wades after John’s unexpected election defeat. He and John become friends during the search for Kathy, and Claude helps John escape by giving him his boat. He knows that John’s life is over without Kathy. With the shadow of her disappearance forever hanging over him, John cannot go on.

Claude serves as the supportive and uncritical father that John never had; his relationship with Claude is extremely healing for John. Only after spending days on the boat with Claude can John face up to his own role in what happened to his life and take responsibility for his actions, including the disastrous attempt to cover up his role in the Thuan Yen massacre. Ultimately, Claude’s friendship and acceptance enable John to take responsibility for his current situation and go into the wilderness after Kathy, never to return.