# A Certain Tree Bears Fruit explained — Doctor Syn

> Chapter companion for Doctor Syn by Russell Thorndike.

## What happens

Jerry Jerk, eager to see his newly purchased gallows, learns from a farmer and fisherman that a man is hanging from it. He reveals to Imogene that he had hung a dummy made of sticks and sand, but when they go to inspect, they find the real dead body of Mr. Rash. Imogene sends Jerry to report to the squire while she goes to keep a promise, but Captain Collyer intercepts Jerry and takes him back to the village for an experiment. Imogene sets out in a small boat into the storm.

## Themes in this chapter

### Duality and Deception

Jerry's dummy is mistaken for a real corpse, and the gallows intended for play becomes a site of actual death.

### Supernatural and the Uncanny

Imogene's premonition of death and the eerie atmosphere of the mist-shrouded marsh evoke the uncanny.

### Community and Loyalty

Imogene's promise to the squire and her brave voyage into the storm demonstrate loyalty and duty.

## Character check-ins

### Jerry Jerk

Proudly owns the gallows and discovers the real corpse of Mr. Rash hanging from it.

### Imogene

Senses something queer and accompanies Jerry to the gallows, then leaves to keep a promise to the squire.

### Mipps

Helped Jerry set up the gallows, mentioned by Jerry.

### Mr. Rash

Found dead, hanging from Jerry's gallows.

### Captain Collyer

Intercepts Jerry after the discovery and takes him back to the village for an experiment.

### Mrs. Waggetts

Keeps Jerry busy at the Ship Inn and appears to have grave matters of her own.

## Key lines

> I tell you that there’s a gallows erected on the Marsh nigh Littlestone Point,” the fisherman was saying. “I could see it quite plain at sunrise when we were running up on to the beach.” “And you say that there was a man a-hangin’ from it?” said the farmer.

A fisherman reports seeing a gallows with a man hanging from it near Littlestone Point, and a farmer confirms the sighting.

_This dialogue reveals the public discovery of the gallows and the body._

> The mildewed sacking, wet with the dense mist, had severed in the fall; the threads had rent at a hundred points, and from the fragments of scattered debris the dead face of Rash looked up with protruding eyes that stared from the blood-streaked flesh.

The sacking dummy falls apart to reveal the real, bloodied corpse of Mr. Rash.

_This is the shocking climax where Jerry's prank turns into a murder discovery._

> Then go to the courthouse and report what we’ve found to the squire, and tell him that Imogene has gone out to keep the rest of her promise.

Imogene instructs Jerry to report the body to the squire while she goes to fulfill her own commitment.

_This shows Imogene's sense of duty and sets up her dangerous voyage._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/doctor_syn_se/chapters/xxxi-a-certain-tree-bears-fruit
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/doctor_syn_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/doctor_syn_se/chapters