Review for "The Damned Thing"

Review of "The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce

First published in 1892 in the journal Tales From New York Town Topics, vol. 30, no. 23.

Summary
The story opens in a log cabin with nine men in the room. One reading from a book and seven lined up against the wall. The last man was lying on the table, dead. The deceased man was Hugh Morgan owner of the cabin. The man reading the book was the coroner and the other men were the jurors. An inquest was being held to determined the cause of death for Mr. Morgan. The men were waiting for the eyewitness, William Harker.

When he enters the room and he is asked to give his account of what happened to Mr. Morgan. Harker tells the men that he was out hunting with Mr. Morgan when the men noticed they were being watched by some sort of beast. He recalls that Morgan referred to it as "that damned thing". The two men were then attacked by the mysterious beast. Harker says that he was cast aside to the ground and watched as Morgan appeared to be having convulsions. By the time he checked on the man, he was already dead. Harker mentions that he never actually saw anything attack Morgan but that there were odd illusions as if there was something invisible in the fields.

One of the jurors asked Harker if he had been released from a mental institution because his story sounded absurd. The jury decides that Mr. Morgan had been killed by a mountain lion. It is then revealed that the coroner had been reading Mr. Morgan's diary which talks about Morgan's encounters with something invisible that he calls "that damned thing". The coroner did not include the diary as evidence in the inquest because he thought that it would not have changed the juror's minds. In the diary, Mr. Morgan concludes that the damned thing is real but is a color that is not on the visible light spectrum so that people cannot see it with their eyes.

Analysis
There are four parts to the story. The first part sets up the location and the reason for the investigation. The second part is the account of Mr. Harker's story. The third is the deliberation of the jury and the fourth is the reveal of Mr. Morgan's diary entries. Breaking the story up into these four parts is a great story telling device. It slowly reveals bits of information about Mr. Morgan's death without slowing down the pace of the story.

It is set in a small cabin that serves as the location for the inquest of Morgan's death. This confined space adds to the tension and mystery of solving the man's death. There is a sense of urgency, secrecy and an element of the unknown that give the story a darker tone.

The coroner is described as a man that is "worldly" but does not dress as fancy as the people in the city. From the beginning he is told to be reading a book, we find out later that is is the diary of Mr. Morgan. So he knows that the story Mr. Harker is telling to be true but does not admit the book into evidence for the jury to read. He claims that it is because the jury would find Mr. Morgan to have been mad and not consider what was written as proof of what caused his death.

The other possibility is something darker. Could the coroner have somehow already known about the invisible creature and is merely trying to cover up the death? There is no evidence to support this but it could have made for a great twist.

The story plays with the idea of people beginning crazy for believing in what is not seen. William Harker is accused of escaping from an Asylum and the coroner hides the diary from the jury. What we know from the diary entries is that Morgan believed in the idea of an animal that was invisible because it was a color that the human eye could not see. He recalls that his dog could somehow sense the beast as well. This could mean that Harker and Morgan we're not crazy and that there really is an invisible animal out in the woods.

This concept can be a reflection of the idea that people fear what they cannot see. The hardest things in life are the problems created by the things that people cannot see with their eyes. Or the things that we have trouble facing. Fear, loneliness and regret could have been problems for Mr. Morgan and the the creature is just the metaphor for all of that. Ultimately he was killed by something he could not see coming.

Thoughts
At first reading this story I really liked the setup in the first paragraph. It starts off with a man reading a book, then there are eight other men and then reveals that one of them is dead. Instead of just saying who all the men were in the opening sentence the story takes it's time to build an atmosphere.

I was surprised by the ending because I almost expected Mr. Morgan to have been killed by Mr. Harker, It was suggested that Harker might be crazy and he recognized Morgan's diary. I was not expecting "the damned thing" to have been real and invisible. If anything I thought it would have been some mythical monster lurking in the woods. Which it still could be and I like the idea that the color of the animal is just not able to be seen with human eyes.

That idea reminds me of the movie Pete's Dragon. Where a little boy is the only person that can see an invisible dragon. Perhaps the reasoning for this is that the dragon is a color that the human eye cannot detect and that the boy may have some enhanced eyes. It's an interesting explanation for sure.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story the second time around. I really like the structure and slow reveals of information. There is no twist in the end, it is fairly straightforward with the cause of death. It's a solid story with a few minor things that bothered me but I still think it's worth a read for anyone that likes dark fantasy stories.

 As always if you are enjoying this blog then please post your comments, feedback and thoughts. Thanks!"The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce. First published in 1892 in the journal Tales From New York Town Topics, vol. 30, no. 23.

Summary
The story opens in a log cabin with nine men in the room. One reading from a book and seven lined up against the wall. The last man was lying on the table, dead. The deceased man was Hugh Morgan owner of the cabin. The man reading the book was the coroner and the other men were the jurors. An inquest was being held to determined the cause of death for Mr. Morgan. The men were waiting for the eyewitness, William Harker.

When he enters the room and he is asked to give his account of what happened to Mr. Morgan. Harker tells the men that he was out hunting with Mr. Morgan when the men noticed they were being watched by some sort of beast. He recalls that Morgan referred to it as "that damned thing". The two men were then attacked by the mysterious beast. Harker says that he was cast aside to the ground and watched as Morgan appeared to be having convulsions. By the time he checked on the man, he was already dead. Harker mentions that he never actually saw anything attack Morgan but that there were odd illusions as if there was something invisible in the fields.

One of the jurors asked Harker if he had been released from a mental institution because his story sounded absurd. The jury decides that Mr. Morgan had been killed by a mountain lion. It is then revealed that the coroner had been reading Mr. Morgan's diary which talks about Morgan's encounters with something invisible that he calls "that damned thing". The coroner did not include the diary as evidence in the inquest because he thought that it would not have changed the juror's minds. In the diary, Mr. Morgan concludes that the damned thing is real but is a color that is not on the visible light spectrum so that people cannot see it with their eyes.

Analysis
There are four parts to the story. The first part sets up the location and the reason for the investigation. The second part is the account of Mr. Harker's story. The third is the deliberation of the jury and the fourth is the reveal of Mr. Morgan's diary entries. Breaking the story up into these four parts is a great story telling device. It slowly reveals bits of information about Mr. Morgan's death without slowing down the pace of the story.

It is set in a small cabin that serves as the location for the inquest of Morgan's death. This confined space adds to the tension and mystery of solving the man's death. There is a sense of urgency, secrecy and an element of the unknown that give the story a darker tone.

The coroner is described as a man that is "worldly" but does not dress as fancy as the people in the city. From the beginning he is told to be reading a book, we find out later that is is the diary of Mr. Morgan. So he knows that the story Mr. Harker is telling to be true but does not admit the book into evidence for the jury to read. He claims that it is because the jury would find Mr. Morgan to have been mad and not consider what was written as proof of what caused his death.

The other possibility is something darker. Could the coroner have somehow already known about the invisible creature and is merely trying to cover up the death? There is no evidence to support this but it could have made for a great twist.

The story plays with the idea of people beginning crazy for believing in what is not seen. William Harker is accused of escaping from an Asylum and the coroner hides the diary from the jury. What we know from the diary entries is that Morgan believed in the idea of an animal that was invisible because it was a color that the human eye could not see. He recalls that his dog could somehow sense the beast as well. This could mean that Harker and Morgan we're not crazy and that there really is an invisible animal out in the woods.

This concept can be a reflection of the idea that people fear what they cannot see. The hardest things in life are the problems created by the things that people cannot see with their eyes. Or the things that we have trouble facing. Fear, loneliness and regret could have been problems for Mr. Morgan and the the creature is just the metaphor for all of that. Ultimately he was killed by something he could not see coming.

Thoughts
At first reading this story I really liked the setup in the first paragraph. It starts off with a man reading a book, then there are eight other men and then reveals that one of them is dead. Instead of just saying who all the men were in the opening sentence the story takes it's time to build an atmosphere.

I was surprised by the ending because I almost expected Mr. Morgan to have been killed by Mr. Harker, It was suggested that Harker might be crazy and he recognized Morgan's diary. I was not expecting "the damned thing" to have been real and invisible. If anything I thought it would have been some mythical monster lurking in the woods. Which it still could be and I like the idea that the color of the animal is just not able to be seen with human eyes.

That idea reminds me of the movie Pete's Dragon. Where a little boy is the only person that can see an invisible dragon. Perhaps the reasoning for this is that the dragon is a color that the human eye cannot detect and that the boy may have some enhanced eyes. It's an interesting explanation for sure.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story the second time around. I really like the structure and slow reveals of information. There is no twist in the end, it is fairly straightforward with the cause of death. It's a solid story with a few minor things that bothered me but I still think it's worth a read for anyone that likes dark fantasy stories.

So, I'll be taking a week off to catch up on some of my readings and focus on school. I'll be back the first week of October and I'm going to switch gears a bit and start doing Science Fiction short stories. When I figure out which one I'm going to do first I'll make a post, so that you guys can read it before my review. As always if you are enjoying this blog then please post your comments, feedback and thoughts. Thanks!