The Beast In The Jungle Analysis

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In Henry James’s short story, “The Beast in the Jungle”, the main character John Marcher meets May Bartram, whom he dimly remembers. Marcher comments that they have met before and tries to recognize her; nevertheless, his recollection was wrong, and she corrects him upon it. However, though his memory was not precise, she was not discouraged and recalled a strange revelation he made during their first meeting. The confession was that he, and only he was “…kept for something rare and strange, possible prodigious and terrible ‘that would happen, and was constantly waiting for the event.’” (454) What “it” is, he is unsure of, but he knows it is inevitable. His role is to wait, and he asks if she will wait and watch with him. She welcomes the idea and …show more content…
As I read this, it felt like I had too, waited with May and Marcher, for something to happen, and it never probably never happen, or happens only when the reader is focused on something else. However, after reading it several times, you never know truly what the catastrophe was or if it was even true. Initially, I felt like Marcher was demented and lied to May, and in actuality he never knew himself what the “secret” was. Also, I felt like the more you read into it and tried to find any sort of hints about the secret, the more confusion is produced. As times go by this sort of experience seems quite odd to Marcher's fantasy about the 'beast,' but it is of course perfectly ordinary as well. The moral lesson to this story is that we miss the experience that is significant all the time, because our attentions and energies are drawn somewhere else and it is hard to know exactly where the meaning resides. As like the progression of this story, I feel like the beast that springs does not so much any particular point in the storyline. It is a kind of slow motion springing that begins with the first line and finishes