Short Fiction · Chapter
A Ramble in Aphasia explained
Elwyn C.
What happens
Elwyn C. Bellford, a successful Denver lawyer, suffers a sudden attack of aphasia due to overwork, forgetting his identity and past. He adopts the name Edward Pinkhammer, a Kansas druggist, and travels to New York. There, he encounters a woman who mistakes him for an old acquaintance, and later his wife Marian and friend Doctor Volney find him. Despite his memory loss, Bellford eventually reveals he remembers everything, having enjoyed the temporary escape from his life.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
The narrator adopts a false identity (Edward Pinkhammer) and deceives others about his past, while the woman he meets accuses him of lying about forgetting.
Nostalgia and the Passage of Time
The woman recalls events from fifteen years ago, and the narrator's lost memory highlights the passage of time and longing for the past.
Humor and Irony
The narrator's enjoyment of his aphasia and the ironic twist that he remembers everything but chooses to pretend otherwise adds a humorous and ironic tone.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator is Elwyn C. Bellford, a Denver lawyer suffering from aphasia, who adopts the alias Edward Pinkhammer.
- Annie Williams
A lady with reddish bronze hair and handsome eyes who mistakes the narrator for Elwyn Bellford and speaks of white roses.
- The Doctor
Doctor Volney, the narrator's friend and physician, who diagnoses the aphasia and helps bring him back to his identity.
- Mrs. Conant
Marian Bellford, the narrator's wife, who travels to New York with Doctor Volney to find him.
Key passages
“You lie, Elwyn Bellford, she breathed, blissfully. Oh, I know you lie!”
The woman accuses the narrator of pretending to forget their shared past, expressing a mix of joy and pain.
This moment reveals the tension between the narrator's claimed amnesia and the woman's belief in his deception.
“It will be best, Bobby, I said, to have this cure happen suddenly. I'm rather tired of it all, anyway.”
The narrator decides to end his aphasia abruptly, indicating he was aware of his true identity all along.
This line underscores the narrator's voluntary choice to forget and then remember, highlighting the theme of escape.