Can Such Things Be? · Chapter
III: The Danger of Looking Into a Pool of Water explained
A man, after leaving a road and feeling inexplicably fatigued, discovers his hands and face are withered and aged.
What happens
A man, after leaving a road and feeling inexplicably fatigued, discovers his hands and face are withered and aged. He realizes he has been unconscious for months since a battle in December, now finding it summer. He comes upon a monument to Hazen's Brigade at Stone River, dated December 31, 1862, and upon seeing his reflection in a pool of water, he dies in shock.
Themes in this chapter
Identity and Self
The protagonist's shock at his own reflection reveals a fractured sense of self, as he cannot reconcile his inner identity with his aged, withered appearance.
Death and the Supernatural
The pool of water acts as a supernatural mirror that precipitates the man's death, suggesting a mysterious link between self-knowledge and mortality.
Fate and Inevitability
The man's discovery of the monument and his reflection leads to an inescapable fate, as if his death was predetermined by the passage of time and the war.
Characters to notice
- Brainerd Byring
The man who, after a bullet-stroke and unconsciousness, discovers his aged appearance and dies upon seeing his reflection.
Key passages
“He lifted both hands to his face. It was seamed and furrowed; he could trace the lines with the tips of his fingers.”
He raised his hands to his face and felt deep wrinkles and grooves, which he could follow with his fingertips.
The protagonist's tactile discovery of his aged face underscores his disorientation and physical transformation.
“He uttered a terrible cry. His arms gave way; he fell, face downward, into the pool and yielded up the life that had spanned another life.”
He screamed in horror, then collapsed into the pool, dying as if his life had already been lived once before.
The final moment emphasizes the supernatural and fatalistic nature of the story, where seeing his true self kills him.