# II explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

Davidson, in a somnambulistic trance, perceives a vivid hallucination of a beach and ship while being physically present in the laboratory. Boyce and Bellows attempt to ground him in reality, with Wade explaining that he is blind to his actual surroundings but sees an illusory seascape.

## Themes in this chapter

### Artifice vs. Authenticity

Davidson's hallucination contrasts the artificial laboratory setting with the vivid, seemingly real beach scene, blurring the line between perception and reality.

## Character check-ins

### Sidney Davidson

In a somnambulistic trance, hallucinating a beach and ship while blind to his actual surroundings.

### Mr. Bessel

Narrator present in the laboratory, helping to manage Davidson's condition.

## Key lines

> It was just then that Boyce came in. So soon as he spoke Davidson exclaimed: 'Old Boyce! Dead too! What a lark!'

Boyce entered at that moment, and Davidson immediately cried out in surprise, thinking Boyce was also dead.

_Davidson's hallucination leads him to believe Boyce has died, showing his disorientation._

> He kept interpolating observations concerning some boat and the davits, and sails filling with the wind.

He repeatedly mentioned details about a boat, its davits, and sails catching the wind.

_Davidson's persistent hallucination of a ship interrupts his awareness of the real room._

> I never saw anything so real. And I'm sitting up to my neck in a bank of sand.

He described the hallucinated scene as incredibly vivid, while feeling as though he were buried in sand.

_Davidson struggles to reconcile his tactile sensations with his visual hallucinations._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters