# The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe.

## What happens

In a post-apocalyptic dialogue set in Aidenn (Heaven), Eiros recounts to Charmion the final days of Earth, which was destroyed by a comet. Despite initial scientific reassurances about the comet's harmless tenuity, its approach caused atmospheric changes—an excess of oxygen—leading to a global conflagration that fulfilled biblical prophecies of destruction by fire.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Mortality

The entire narrative centers on the annihilation of Earth and all humanity, exploring the transition from mortal life to an afterlife in Aidenn.

### The Supernatural and the Gothic

The dialogue takes place in a supernatural realm (Aidenn) and describes the apocalyptic, fiery destruction of the world in Gothic, terrifying detail.

### Beauty and the Sublime

The comet's approach and the final conflagration are depicted with a sense of awe and terrible majesty, evoking the sublime.

## Character check-ins

### Eiros

A newly arrived soul in Aidenn, recounts the Earth's destruction by a comet.

### Charmion

A resident of Aidenn who inducts Eiros into his new existence and questions him about the catastrophe.

## Key lines

> The wild sickness and the terrible darkness have left me, and I hear no longer that mad, rushing, horrible sound, like the 'voice of many waters.'

Eiros says he no longer feels the sickness and darkness, nor hears the terrifying roar that once overwhelmed him.

_Eiros describes his relief from the sensory horrors of death as he enters Aidenn._

> It was demonstrated, that the density of the comet's nucleus was far less than that of our rarest gas; and the harmless passage of a similar visitor among the satellites of Jupiter was a point strongly insisted upon, and which served greatly to allay terror.

Scientists proved the comet's nucleus was less dense than the thinnest gas, and pointed to its harmless passage near Jupiter's moons to calm public fear.

_Eiros recalls how early scientific arguments minimized the perceived threat of the comet._

> What would be the result of a total extraction of the nitrogen? A combustion irresistible, all-devouring, omni-prevalent, immediate;—the entire fulfilment, in all their minute and terrible details, of the fiery and horror-inspiring denunciations of the prophecies of the Holy Book.

Eiros explains that removing all nitrogen from the atmosphere would cause an unstoppable, all-consuming fire, exactly matching biblical prophecies of destruction.

_The key realization that the comet's oxygen-rich atmosphere would trigger global combustion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/chapters/the-conversation-of-eiros-and-charmion
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/chapters