# The Outcast explained — Ghost Stories

> Chapter companion for Ghost Stories by E. F. Benson.

## What happens

The narrator recounts the haunting aftermath of Mrs. Acres's burial, where the earth rejects her coffin, forcing it to be disinterred and ultimately cremated. The story weaves together themes of reincarnation, supernatural rejection, and the terror of a body that will not rest, supported by a medieval treatise on cursed spirits.

## Themes in this chapter

### Supernatural and Occult

The chapter centers on a corpse that refuses to stay buried, a medieval treatise on reincarnation, and the supernatural rejection of the body by earth and sea.

### Death and the Afterlife

Explores the restless dead, the failure of burial rites, and the concept of expiation through fire for a cursed spirit.

### Guilt and Retribution

The cursed spirit's reincarnation and the earth's rejection of the body suggest a punishment for past sins, with the narrator grappling with a sense of dread and moral consequence.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator witnesses the coffin's emergence from the grave and struggles with the supernatural implications.

### Madge Dalrymple

Madge is present at the funeral and whispers 'the kindly earth will not receive her,' echoing the medieval curse.

### Charles Alington

Charles Alington accompanies the narrator to the cemetery after the disinterment and provides a medieval treatise on reincarnation.

### Mrs. Acres

Mrs. Acres is the deceased whose body is rejected by both sea and earth, leading to her cremation.

## Key lines

> What is sure is that, when the time came for her burial, the kindly earth would receive her not, but though the grave was dug deep and well it spewed her forth again.

The earth refused to accept her body, pushing it back out of the grave despite it being properly dug.

_Highlights the supernatural rejection of the corpse, a key event in the chapter._

> the sea would not suffer him to rest in her bosom, but slipped the weights from him, and cast him forth again on to the coast.

The sea rejected the body, loosening the weights and washing it ashore.

_Describes the parallel fate of the male reincarnation of the cursed spirit, reinforcing the theme of rejection._

> when the full time of his expiation shall have come and his deadly sin forgiven, the corporal body which is the cursed receptacle of his spirit shall at length be purged with fire, and so he shall, in the infinite mercy of the Almighty, have rest, and shall wander no more.

Only after the sin is forgiven and the body is burned will the spirit find peace and cease to wander.

_Explains the medieval theory of reincarnation and the necessity of cremation for the cursed spirit's rest._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters/the-outcast
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters