Can Such Things Be? · Chapter
The Mystery of Charles Farquharson explained
In 1843, William Hayner Gordon discovers a mysterious corpse in his locked bedroom after briefly extinguishing his candle.
What happens
In 1843, William Hayner Gordon discovers a mysterious corpse in his locked bedroom after briefly extinguishing his candle. Despite an inquest, the body remains unidentified. Months later, he learns that Charles Farquharson, a childhood acquaintance, died in Bombay on the same night. A daguerreotype matches the corpse, but Farquharson's body was exposed in a Parsee Tower of Silence. When Gordon and friends open the grave, the coffin is empty.
Themes in this chapter
The Uncanny and the Grotesque
The appearance of a corpse in a locked room and the empty coffin evoke a sense of the uncanny and grotesque.
Death and the Supernatural
The unexplained death, the matching daguerreotype, and the empty grave suggest supernatural elements beyond natural explanation.
Characters to notice
- William Hayner Gordon
The protagonist who discovers a mysterious corpse in his bedroom and later learns of its connection to Charles Farquharson.
- Henri Granier
Gordon's neighbor who breaks down the door after hearing Gordon's cry.
Key passages
“In crossing, his foot came in contact with some heavy object and he was thrown to the floor. Rising, he struck a match and lighted his candle. In the center of the room lay the corpse of a man.”
While walking across the room, Gordon tripped over something heavy and fell. When he lit a candle, he saw a dead man lying in the middle of the floor.
Describes the sudden and inexplicable appearance of the corpse.
“As nearly as the living can look like the dead it was an exact likeness of the mysterious body found in Gordon’s bedroom, and it was with a strange feeling that Gordon observed that the death, making allowance for the difference of time, was said to have occurred on the very night of the adventure.”
The daguerreotype of Farquharson was an almost perfect match for the corpse Gordon had found, and Gordon was disturbed to realize that Farquharson had died on the same night.
Highlights the eerie coincidence linking the two events.
“They unscrewed the lid. The shroud was a trifle moldy. There was no body nor any vestige of one.”
When they opened the coffin, they found only a slightly moldy shroud—no body or any trace of one.
Reveals the final supernatural twist of the empty grave.