need help

again, in reading L'armee des ombres, the protagonist is being looked over by a commandant of a concentration camp in France; he's reading the man's police file; he translates what he reads into what he thinks the facts imply; he reflects that a description of the man includes an independent sort, ironic, etc., and tells himself "a mater"; i can't figure out what that means; the dictionary says "mater" is "checkmate"

then, reading further, he reads: "Libere sur non-lieu", and tells himself "influence, influence"; i know what each word means, but can't get the meaning;

someone here will know, tia

isabelle

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Permalink Reply by Marc Vonhalmen on June 28, 2009 at 2:15pm

Hi

Is it "a mater" or "à mater" ? If it's "à mater" : the verb "mater" also means, speaking of a revolt, or of a rebellious person: to quell, to curb, to put down. So, "à mater" means that something/somebody has to be quelled ("à mater" just means "to be quelled": the form "à + verb" is quite common. "à faire" means "to do" or "to be done"). Does this make sense in the context of your book ?

"Libéré sur non-lieu" is a juridical way to say that charges against somebody were dismissed, and that this person is now free. "libéré sur non-lieu" means "libéré grâce à un non-lieu", but it's the juridical way to say it.

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Permalink Reply by isabelle hayes on June 28, 2009 at 8:11pm

yes, it is "a mater" with the accent mark; this makes a lot of sense; the commandant is reacting to the man's independent spirit with "to be kept down; kept from making trouble, in other words;

libere sur non-lieu is the way people with "influence" work the legal system;

this network is just what i hoped, i'll have to try not to over-use your goodness

isabelle

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 28, 2009 at 2:16pm

"mater" means "to spy on". Un "mateur" is the noun. A "mateur" is usually a pervert.

"Libéré sur non-lieu" means "to be discharged through lack of evidence".

"influence, influence"... well the meaning is hard to tell without the context.