Can Such Things Be? · Chapter
II: What May Happen in a Field of Wild Oats explained
The narrator recounts a hunting expedition with Hugh Morgan, during which they encounter an invisible, violent entity in a field of wild oats.
What happens
The narrator recounts a hunting expedition with Hugh Morgan, during which they encounter an invisible, violent entity in a field of wild oats. Morgan reacts with terror, fires his gun, and is brutally attacked and killed by an unseen force, leaving the narrator horrified and bewildered.
Themes in this chapter
Violence and Mortality
The sudden, brutal death of Hugh Morgan at the hands of an unseen assailant underscores the fragility of life and the violent nature of the encounter.
The Uncanny and the Grotesque
The invisible entity, the unnatural movement of the wild oats, and Morgan's dismemberment create a deeply unsettling and grotesque scene.
Characters to notice
- Hugh Morgan
The narrator's friend who is killed by an invisible entity during a quail hunt.
- Stevens
The narrator and companion of Hugh Morgan, who witnesses the bizarre and fatal attack.
Key passages
“We so rely upon the orderly operation of familiar natural laws that any seeming suspension of them is noted as a menace to our safety, a warning of unthinkable calamity.”
Our dependence on the predictable workings of nature makes any apparent violation of those laws feel like a threat, heralding disaster.
Reflects the narrator's psychological response to the uncanny event.
“I saw again the mysterious movement of the wild oats, prolonging itself from the trampled area about the prostrate man toward the edge of a wood.”
I witnessed the strange, creeping motion of the oats extending from where Morgan lay to the forest's edge.
Describes the invisible entity's retreat after the attack.