Short Fiction · Chapter
X: Home explained
Dr.
What happens
Dr. Hesselius leaves Mr. Jennings after offering comfort and a medical explanation for his affliction, exacting a promise to be called if the monkey returns. He retreats to an inn to study the case, but returns to find that Mr. Jennings has committed suicide by cutting his throat. The servant recounts the final hours, marked by strange behavior and the return of the tormenting presence.
Themes in this chapter
Faith and Skepticism
Dr. Hesselius tries to reassure Mr. Jennings of God's care and love, countering his fear of spiritual reprobation, but the suicide suggests a failure of that comfort.
Supernatural and the Uncanny
The return of the speaking, knowing 'enemy' (the monkey) and the eerie atmosphere of the house underscore the uncanny persecution.
Guilt and Retribution
Mr. Jennings's sense of being delivered over to spiritual reprobation and his eventual suicide imply a theme of guilt and self-inflicted retribution.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Jennings
Found dead by suicide after a night of torment; his case ends tragically despite Hesselius's intervention.
- Doctor Hesselius
Narrates the chapter; attempts to treat Mr. Jennings rationally but arrives too late to prevent the suicide.
Key passages
“I told him that he must regard his illness strictly as one dependent on physical, though subtle physical, causes.”
Dr. Hesselius insists that Mr. Jennings's condition is rooted in physical causes, albeit subtle ones.
Hesselius attempts to rationalize the supernatural affliction as a medical phenomenon.
“His master had made away with himself.”
Mr. Jennings committed suicide.
The servant reveals the tragic outcome to Dr. Hesselius.
“It is the story of the process of a poison, a poison which excites the reciprocal action of spirit and nerve, and paralyses the tissue that separates those cognate functions of the senses, the external and the interior.”
The narrative describes a poison that disrupts the boundary between spirit and nerve, merging inner and outer perceptions.
Dr. Hesselius reflects on the metaphysical mechanism behind Mr. Jennings's ordeal.