Short Fiction · Chapter
VI: How Mr. Jennings Met His Companion explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Jennings recounts to the narrator the beginning of his torment, which started three years and eleven weeks ago. He describes his obsessive work on the religious metaphysics of the ancients, his habit of drinking strong green tea late at night, and a terrifying encounter in an omnibus where he saw a spectral monkey with glowing red eyes that proved to be intangible.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and the Uncanny
Mr. Jennings's encounter with the spectral monkey in the omnibus exemplifies the intrusion of the uncanny into everyday life.
Guilt and Retribution
Mr. Jennings's obsessive study of pagan metaphysics is presented as a degrading fascination that brings a nemesis, suggesting a moral retribution.
Faith and Skepticism
The tension between Mr. Jennings's Christian faith and his scholarly immersion in paganism is a central conflict.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Jennings
The narrator's companion, who reveals the onset of his supernatural affliction and his scholarly obsession with pagan metaphysics.
- Doctor Hesselius
The narrator, who listens to Mr. Jennings's story and provides the framing perspective.
Key passages
“It began on the 15th of October, three years and eleven weeks ago, and two days—I keep very accurate count, for every day is torment.”
Mr. Jennings marks the exact start of his ordeal, emphasizing the daily suffering he endures.
Establishes the precise timeline of Mr. Jennings's supernatural experiences.
“I wrote a great deal; I wrote late at night. I was always thinking on the subject, walking about, wherever I was, everywhere. It thoroughly infected me.”
Mr. Jennings describes his all-consuming obsession with pagan religious metaphysics.
Highlights the theme of intellectual obsession leading to spiritual danger.
“For through it, and back and forward, it passed, without the slightest resistance.”
Mr. Jennings's umbrella passed through the monkey's form, confirming it was an apparition.
Key moment revealing the supernatural nature of the creature.