Considering how little Gerard Keay shows up in canon, his character is likely my favorite in the series. Mostly because of his recurring theme’s centered around personal autonomy.
When Gerard was born he had expectations he never wanted placed on his shoulders. He never wanted to get involved with fears, or deal with monsters that “made him so afraid that he could have thrown up,” but in the end, it was the love he had for the monster he was born from that kept him chained to this dark world.
Then, the monster died. In a way that was so traumatic even his love for her wasn’t enough to keep him from running. For the first time, he had really stepped away from it all. And the consequence of that was once again his freedom. He got arrested for his Mother’s death simply of the fact that it was too….weird. There was no real proof he did anything. But the world he lived in was so incomprehensible to those outside it that it didn’t matter. He was charged for a crime he didn’t commit and was only let out on a technicality.
Which left him once again with his Mother. Who had new and improved ways to emotionally manipulate him after he “failed” to help with her death. He was back right where he started, until Gertrude “freed” him by burning the pages.
But he still wasn’t really free. While he was now following Gertrude instead of his Mother, he was still following, walking deeper into a world that he once wanted nothing to do with. And he stayed in that world until his untimely death.
He didn’t go out in the “line of duty” like Gertrude, or Mary, or John, or Tim. His death was simple, and that was when he should gotten freedom for the first time in the life. But then he was yanked back the living world by being forcibly turned into a “monster manual” that was left behind and exploited.
It was only when John burned his page that he was finally set free. That’s why John’s final word’s to him being “Rest in….Just rest.” mean’s so much to me. Because John doesn’t tell Gerry what he should rest in. He just…let’s him rest.
For the first time someone truly let’s Gerry go, and it’s likely one the first friends he ever had.
The story of Gerard Keay mean’s everything to me. He is the most side character’s of all time.