Short Fiction · Chapter
The Valley of Spiders explained
Three pursuers track fugitives across a vast, still valley, only to be attacked by drifting masses of spider webs and the deadly spiders within them.
What happens
Three pursuers track fugitives across a vast, still valley, only to be attacked by drifting masses of spider webs and the deadly spiders within them. The leader survives and escapes, but his companions are killed. He later sees smoke from the fugitives in the distance and reflects on the ordeal.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Unknown
The valley and its spiders represent a hostile, indifferent natural world that overwhelms human pursuit and ambition.
Ambition and Failure
The pursuers' relentless chase ends in death and defeat, underscoring the futility of their quest.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Morris
The leader with the silver-studded bridle; he curses the white horse and later kills the little man in a rage.
- Mr. Skelmersdale
The little man on the white horse; he is killed by the master during a confrontation.
- Mr. Brisher
The gaunt man with the scarred lip; he is attacked and killed by spiders during the chase.
Key passages
“Towards midday the three pursuers came abruptly round a bend in the torrent bed upon the sight of a very broad and spacious valley.”
Around noon, the three men chasing the fugitives suddenly turned a corner in the dry riverbed and saw a wide, open valley.
Opening scene setting the stage for the pursuit.
“The man with the silver bridle saw the little man go past him, slashing furiously at imaginary cobwebs, saw him cannon into the horse of the gaunt man and hurl it and its rider to earth.”
The leader watched the little man ride past, wildly swinging his sword at nonexistent webs, then crash into the gaunt man's horse, knocking both to the ground.
Chaotic moment during the spider attack.
“To the day of his death he never knew just how the event of that moment happened. Did he, indeed, turn his horse, or did it really of its own accord stampede after its fellow?”
He never understood exactly what happened—whether he chose to turn his horse or it simply bolted after the other animal.
Ambiguity of the leader's escape.