Anatomy of an Alibi
62 pages • 2-hour read
Ashley ElstonAnatomy of an Alibi
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death and emotional abuse.
The Precarious Process of Proving One’s Innocence
Guilt and innocence lie at the heart of Anatomy of an Alibi. The novel opens with Aubrey and Camille constructing an alternative reality: Aubrey poses as Camille in St. Francisville while the real Camille spies on Ben. Aubrey erases herself from the world for 12 hours and assumes Camille’s identity. This switch has ramifications for the rest of the novel, exposing the precarious process of proving one’s innocence.
Aubrey collects physical evidence of Camille’s alleged presence in St. Francisville, inadvertently constructing a trail of Camille’s innocence. However, this trail itself adds suspicion to Camille after Ben’s death, as Hank notices, “It’s almost as if [Camille] spent yesterday preparing for the alibi she’d need today” (27). Camille’s preparedness contradicts her innocence. Camille didn’t kill Ben, yet her alibi isn’t functional. She wasn’t at Chantilly’s, and she spent most of the day of Ben’s murder hiding in the attic of the Bayliss house. The truth makes her look guilty, as if she has something to hide. Camille left the house before Ben died, but she can’t prove it without incriminating herself and Aubrey in their fraudulent plot.
Aubrey and Camille cannot even establish their innocence to each other. Aubrey’s roommates suggest that Camille killed Ben and used Aubrey for an alibi, which seems a logical conclusion to draw. Aubrey rejects the idea, however, stating, “The thing is, I feel like Camille is way more exposed than I am. I had her phone. Her car. Her credit cards. That’s a lot of trust to put into someone. Into me. Would she really do that if she planned on killing her husband?” (201). For Aubrey to erase herself and assume Camille’s identity, Camille surrenders her most valuable possessions to Aubrey, a woman she’s just met. Camille slips into the background as Aubrey assumes her role, but Camille’s attempt to erase herself from the narrative of Ben’s murder ultimately fails: As his wife, she becomes the prime suspect.
Aubrey also has to worry about establishing her own innocence. She believes in Camille’s innocence, but Aubrey cannot serve as Camille’s alibi without making herself a suspect. Aubrey astutely notes, “Do I believe Camille killed her husband? No, I really don’t. But that doesn’t mean the police won’t set their sights on her...or me, if they find out what we did on Saturday” (203). Aubrey understands how innocence isn’t always based on facts or truth, but the narrative spun by law enforcement. Paul Granger goes to jail because he couldn’t assert his innocence, and his identity as a known drug user and dealer made him an easy target for Foster and the other police officers. Aubrey fears a similar miscarriage of justice could happen to her.
In the end, both Aubrey and Camille remain free to rebuild their lives after Ben’s death, but lingering problems remain for both women. Camille realizes that Silas is now corrupt like Randall, while Aubrey is still tied to Silas and his secrets. In this way, even their innocence cannot fully free them from the trouble in which they are entangled.
The Impact of Coercive Control Within Marriage
Ben and Camille’s marriage informs the development of both of their character arcs. Camille presents Ben as a controlling husband who follows her every move, which takes a heavy toll on their dynamic. Ben regards Camille as a trophy wife who should do as he says. Camille’s experiences reveal the impact of coercive control within marriage.
In the early days of their marriage, Ben didn’t exhibit concerning behavior, as Camille remembers: “Ben wasn’t always this obsessed with tracking me. It was a gradual thing…And I really don’t think he’s trying to catch me doing something wrong…Ben loves control, and technology helps feed that monster” (29-30). Ben maintains complete power over Camille and their marriage because of the prenuptial agreement he demanded Camille sign. Randall, Camille’s oppressive father, supported the prenuptial agreement, and Camille notes, “Dad promised this would protect me, but all it’s done is strengthen the chains that bind me to Ben” (31). Randall and Ben conspire to keep Camille in line, because Camille threatens the tenuous balance that they’ve created to hide the truth. Camille’s marriage to Ben cements Ben’s connection to the Everett family, ensuring his silence about the accident.
When Camille discovers the truth about Ben’s involvement in the accident, she questions the very bedrock upon which their marriage rests, asking Ben, “Was I included in the deal you made with Dad to cover for Silas? In exchange for an alibi, were you guaranteed a wife?” (179). Camille feels commodified by her father and husband, used as an object to solidify an agreement she has no knowledge of. Randall and Ben exert coercive control over the trajectory of Camille’s entire life: Randall pressures Camille to function as the perfect, submissive wife and adhere to the gendered norms of traditional marriage, while Ben pressures Camille to form herself into the trope of the idealized trophy wife. Camille lacks an identity outside of her marriage, and this lack of meaning in her life prompts her to begin to search for the truth about Ben.
When Camille confronts Ben about his controlling behavior and his lies, Ben promises her that the prenuptial agreement will punish her financially for leaving him. He follows up with an additional verbal barb, telling Camille, “And I can guarantee you, your dad will be on my side of this instead of yours, since I’m one of the only people who could send his prodigal son to prison” (180). Ben exerts control over not only Camille, but her entire family, as he holds the secret that could destroy them. Camille almost falls into believing that Ben only wants to free them from Randall’s influence, but she recalls Ben’s obsession with control and his verbal denigration behind her back to Margaret. Camille thinks, “Am I the bad guy? I realize I’m letting him control this conversation like I always do. He’s good at working people...his clients, the jury, anyone he encounters” (181).
Ben’s desire for control extends into all areas of his life, and Camille realizes there’s no way to fix it. Camille takes back control over her own life, deciding to leave Ben, but he’s murdered before she can file for divorce. Instead of reasserting control over her life via divorce, Camille must find her agency through avoiding conviction for his murder and finding meaning outside of marriage.
The Relationship Between Class and Credibility in a Socially Stratified Community
Elston presents a heavily hierarchical Louisiana as the setting for Anatomy of an Alibi. Both Baton Rouge as a large city and Corbeau as a smaller town function similarly: The wealthy have all the power. Camille, though she lacks power in her personal relationships, has generational wealth, and this wealth offers her power over Aubrey, who’s financially struggling. Through the characters’ interpersonal dynamics, the novel examines the relationship between class and credibility in a socially stratified community.
The unbalanced power dynamic fosters distrust between Aubrey and Camille. Credibility often stems from wealth, and so Aubrey’s lack of wealth equates to a lack of credibility, as the police wouldn’t simply take the word of a working-class young woman with roommates with criminal backgrounds. Aubrey has seen what happens to people from lower socioeconomic strata when falsely accused of a crime, and she worries the same could happen to her if she betrays Camille. She thinks, “I have no doubt that I would become the sacrificial lamb, same as Paul” (196). Aubrey knows that Camille and her family’s resources could bury Aubrey or even frame her for Ben’s murder, because the Everetts have ties to policing and governmental institutions that consistently favor the wealthy.
Margaret and Ben also inform the themes surrounding class, as the dichotomy between them and their Everett spouses motivates them to agree to keep Silas’s secret. Ben believes that Silas drove the truck and killed the Prices, and he agrees to lie and be Silas’s alibi in exchange for financial help for his mother and Randall’s approval of his relationship with Camille. Ben assumes Margaret does the same thing, especially when Margaret says to Ben, “I’ve been hanging on to Silas by the tips of my fingers and now it feels like I’ve got a good hold on him with both hands. Mr. Everett will do whatever it takes to make us happy now that we’re keeping Silas’s secret” (269). Ben wants the Everett family’s approval in exchange for his dishonesty, but Margaret does something even more sinister: Margaret frames Silas for the crime, because she knows the Everetts will use their wealth and power to cover it up completely. As Silas tells Camille, “Once Dad got involved, I could have screamed it from the steps of the courthouse and no one would have listened to me” (210).
Randall’s power is so absolute that even a confession from Silas wouldn’t change the outcome of Paul Granger’s conviction. Randall wouldn’t use his influence to protect his son’s working-class girlfriend, as he discouraged the relationship. Margaret knew this, so she exploited Silas to protect herself, borrowing the credibility of the Everett name and imprisoning an innocent man—a man from her own socioeconomic stratum—in the process. Paul Granger’s fate thus reinforces the idea that it is class and wealth, not truth, that determines credibility.
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