Short Fiction · Chapter
The Man That Was Used Up explained
The narrator recounts his acquaintance with the impressive Brevet Brigadier-General John A.
What happens
The narrator recounts his acquaintance with the impressive Brevet Brigadier-General John A. B. C. Smith, whose perfect physique and heroic reputation from the Bugaboo and Kickapoo campaign intrigue him. Despite numerous attempts to learn the full story from various acquaintances, each conversation is interrupted or diverted. Finally, the narrator visits the General in his bedroom and discovers that the 'bundle' on the floor is actually the General himself—a man who has been so severely mutilated in battle that he is entirely composed of prosthetic parts, assembled each morning by his valet.
Themes in this chapter
Duality and the Double
The contrast between General Smith's public persona as a perfect, heroic figure and his private reality as a collection of artificial parts highlights a duality between appearance and reality.
Isolation and Alienation
The General's dependence on prosthetics and his hidden vulnerability suggest a profound alienation from his own body and from others.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator is obsessed with uncovering the mystery behind General Smith's remarkable appearance and heroic past.
- John A. B. C. Smith
A celebrated war hero whose body is entirely composed of prosthetics, assembled daily by his valet.
Key passages
“I cannot just now remember when or where I first made the acquaintance of that truly fine-looking fellow, Brevet Brigadier-General John A. B. C. Smith.”
The narrator cannot recall the exact circumstances of meeting the handsome General Smith.
Opens the story with a tone of mystery and faulty memory.
“There is nothing at all like it, we are a wonderful people, and live in a wonderful age. Parachutes and railroads—mantraps and spring-guns!”
General Smith enthusiastically praises the rapid progress of mechanical invention.
Highlights the theme of technological advancement and the narrator's growing curiosity.
“Hem! ahem! rather civil that, I should say! said the bundle, in one of the smallest, and altogether the funniest little voices, between a squeak and a whistle, that I ever heard in all the days of my existence.”
The bundle on the floor speaks in a tiny, comical voice, revealing itself to be the General.
Climactic revelation that the General is a collection of prosthetics.