# XXVI explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Leonid Andreyev.

## What happens

The chapter expresses a profound disbelief in the power of human institutions—prison, iron, stone—and asserts that what has been destroyed can never be restored, echoing the sentiments of Pascale the professor.

## Themes in this chapter

### Freedom and Imprisonment

The chapter directly rejects the power of prison, iron, and stone, emphasizing a spiritual freedom that transcends physical confinement.

### Faith and Doubt

The speaker's disbelief in human power and institutions reflects a crisis of faith in authority and a deeper trust in the permanence of destruction.

## Character check-ins

### Pascale

Referenced as the professor whose words are echoed in the chapter's declaration of disbelief in human power.

## Key lines

> But I do not believe in thy prison, O Man, my master! I do not believe in thy iron; I do not believe in thy stone, in thy power, O Man, my master!

I reject the authority of your prison, your iron, your stone, and your power, O human master.

_A direct declaration of disbelief in human-made systems of control and confinement._

> That which I have once seen destroyed, shall never be knit together again.

Once something is destroyed, it can never be restored to its former state.

_An assertion of the irreversible nature of destruction, implying a fundamental change that cannot be undone._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/xxvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_34_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters