“He’s also the descendant of a very ancient tradition: the noble loner, the knight errant, the mysterious stranger, who has shown up in stories forever . . . He is a truly universal character. I think I lucked into a very fortunate position, where I’m writing the modern iteration of a character who has existed for thousands of years.”
—Lee Child, quoted in Time magazine by Andrea Sachs
If time travel were possible and Jack Reacher transported himself to medieval England, he would recognize himself in the form of a knight-errant, a knight in shining armor on horseback who wanders the land in search of adventure. Motivated by idealism, like the Knights of the Round Table—significantly, Sir Galahad in search of the Holy Grail—or motivated by the love of a lady, the knight-errant seeks to prove himself worthy of his title.
The knight-errant, a literary archetype that has endured to modern day, shares much in common with Reacher:
The first recorded use of the phrase “knight-errant” (knyght erraunt) occurred in the uncredited 14th-century poem, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” In true knight-errant tradition, Sir Gawain, nephew of King Arthur and a Knight of the Round Table, is challenged by the mysterious Green Knight:
The poem follows Gawain’s psychological processes during the course of his testing and concentrates on the moral dilemmas he has to face in trying to live by the scheme of values he adopted at Arthur’s court. The Green Knight’s testing of Gawain and, by extension, of the Arthurian court, pits this idealistic scheme against man’s natural urges, in particular his instinct to preserve his life.1
Reacher fits the mold of the knight-errant. He has no fixed home and, in fact, when he inherits a home from a former mentor, he sells it. His ethos as a commissioned Army officer, especially in the field of law enforcement, gives him a moral compass that always points him in the right direction. Even when a situation is inherently dangerous, he becomes involved because his sense of duty requires it. He is essentially a loner, eschewing long-term relationships with women, and refuses to settle down. In short, he won’t allow himself to be anchored geographically, vocationally, or romantically.
He is often tested, but because of his size, street smarts, and analytical abilities, he is never bested, and consistently comes out on top. And, of course, he’s a rambling man. He prefers to roam the United States, never staying in any single location for long; once he feels he’s seen enough, he moves on, stopping only to intervene when he sees injustice that cries out for his involvement.
The motivation for this archetype can be summed up by a dour Puritan named Solomon Kane, created by pulp fictioneer Robert E. Howard. In “The Blue Flame of Vengeance,” Kane says: “While evil flourishes and wrongs grow rank, while men are persecuted and women wronged, while weak things, human or animal, are maltreated, there is no rest for me beneath the skies, nor peace at any board or bed.”
Like Kane, Reacher cannot find rest easily, for there are always wrongs to right, villains to seek out and punish, and injustices to be set straight. It is Reacher who stands up to be counted, and to whom the less fortunate look up to for succor.
Skills for US Army Military Police Officers
Modern-day knights, as it were, MPs must have many of the same qualities that define knightserrant of yore. These attributes include:
(“Military Police Officer” page, www.goarmy.com)