# III explained — Can Such Things Be?

> Chapter companion for Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

Halpin Frayser, trapped in a nightmare within a haunted wood, confronts a horrifying apparition that resembles his mother but is soulless and malevolent. Paralyzed with fear, he is attacked and strangled by the creature, ultimately dreaming that he is dead.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and the Supernatural

The apparition is a soulless body, and the dream culminates in Halpin Frayser dreaming of his own death.

### Madness and Perception

The dream blurs reality and nightmare, with Halpin perceiving himself as both spectator and participant in the struggle.

### The Uncanny and the Grotesque

The apparition is described as a body without a soul, inspiring horror and revulsion rather than love or longing.

## Character check-ins

### Halpin Frayser

The dreamer confronting the apparition in the haunted wood, experiencing paralysis and a fatal struggle.

## Key lines

> The apparition confronting the dreamer in the haunted wood⁠—the thing so like, yet so unlike his mother⁠—was horrible!

The ghostly figure that appeared to Halpin in the forest was terrifying, resembling his mother but with a disturbing difference.

_Highlights the uncanny resemblance and the horror it evokes._

> He tried to turn and run from before it, but his legs were as lead; he was unable to lift his feet from the ground.

He attempted to flee but found himself paralyzed, unable to move his legs.

_Illustrates the dream-induced paralysis and helplessness._

> But what mortal can cope with a creature of his dream? The imagination creating the enemy is already vanquished; the combat’s result is the combat’s cause.

No living person can defeat a being born from their own dream, because the mind that conjures the foe has already lost the battle.

_Reflects on the futility of fighting a nightmare._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters