Short Fiction · Chapter
The Dead Hand explained
A group of friends gather for an evening of drinking and storytelling when a friend, Pierre, arrives with a gruesome souvenir: a skinned, dried hand that once belonged to a notorious criminal.
What happens
A group of friends gather for an evening of drinking and storytelling when a friend, Pierre, arrives with a gruesome souvenir: a skinned, dried hand that once belonged to a notorious criminal. He hangs it on his bell-pull, but soon after, he is violently attacked in his bedroom, nearly strangled by an unseen assailant. The hand disappears, and Pierre is left traumatized and insane. Months later, during his funeral, gravediggers unearth the skeleton of the original criminal, whose hand has been severed, suggesting a supernatural revenge.
Themes in this chapter
Obsession and Delusion
Pierre's fixation on the hand as a memento mori and his subsequent descent into madness illustrate the theme of obsession leading to delusion.
Cruelty and Suffering
The violent attack on Pierre, the history of the criminal's atrocities, and the psychological torment endured by the victim highlight the theme of cruelty and suffering.
Illusion vs. Reality
The boundary between the supernatural and the real is blurred as the hand seems to exact revenge, challenging the characters' perceptions of what is possible.
Characters to notice
- Guy de Maupassant
The narrator and friend of Pierre, who recounts the story of the skinned hand and its aftermath.
- Mouche
Pierre, the young law student who brings the skinned hand to the gathering and later becomes the victim of a mysterious attack.
- Old Boniface
Bonvin, Pierre's servant, who discovers his master after the attack and alerts the authorities.
- Saint Anthony
Referenced in the description of the sorcerer's magical practices, specifically the cow's tail resembling that of Saint Anthony's companion.
Key passages
“I have come from P⸺ in Normandy, where I have been spending a week, and from which I have brought along a distinguished criminal friend of mine, whom I will introduce, with your permission.”
Pierre announces he has returned from Normandy with a notorious criminal acquaintance, which he then reveals to be the skinned hand.
This introduces the central object of the story and sets the supernatural tone.
“On his throat were the marks of five fingers which had pressed deeply into his flesh, and his shirt was stained by a few drops of blood.”
Pierre's throat bears the deep imprints of five fingers, indicating a violent strangulation attempt.
This detail emphasizes the physical evidence of the attack and the hand's apparent agency.
“I say,' said the other man laughing, 'you would think that he was watching you, and that he was going to spring at your throat and make you give him back his hand.'”
A gravedigger jokes that the skeleton seems to be staring and might attack to reclaim its severed hand.
This darkly humorous remark reinforces the theme of supernatural retribution.