# The Experiment explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Arthur Machen.

## What happens

Dr. Raymond conducts a neurosurgical experiment on Mary, a young woman he rescued from the streets, aiming to open her perception to the spirit world. Clarke, a reluctant witness, observes as Mary briefly sees something transcendent before collapsing into a state of hopeless idiocy. Raymond remains unrepentant, believing Mary has glimpsed the Great God Pan.

## Themes in this chapter

### Occult and Forbidden Knowledge

Raymond's experiment seeks to bridge the material and spirit worlds, a forbidden pursuit.

### Madness and Psychological Horror

Mary's descent into idiocy after her vision exemplifies psychological horror.

### Supernatural and the Divine

The experiment aims to contact a supernatural entity, the Great God Pan.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Clarke

Witness to the experiment; troubled by Mary's fate.

### Dr. Raymond

Conducts the experiment; claims Mary has seen the Great God Pan.

### Mary

Subject of the experiment; left a hopeless idiot after seeing the spirit world.

## Key lines

> Three days later Raymond took Clarke to Mary’s bedside. She was lying wide-awake, rolling her head from side to side, and grinning vacantly. 'Yes,' said the doctor, still quite cool, 'it is a great pity; she is a hopeless idiot. However, it could not be helped; and, after all, she has seen the Great God Pan.'

Three days after the experiment, Raymond brings Clarke to see Mary, who is now a vacant, grinning idiot. Raymond calmly remarks that while it's unfortunate, she has at least witnessed the Great God Pan.

_Reveals the tragic outcome of the experiment and Raymond's detached rationalization._

> With a touch I can bring them into play, with a touch, I say, I can set free the current, with a touch I can complete the communication between this world of sense and⁠—we shall be able to finish the sentence later on. Yes, the knife is necessary; but think what that knife will effect. It will level utterly the solid wall of sense, and probably, for the first time since man was made, a spirit will gaze on a spirit-world.

Raymond claims he can activate dormant brain cells to bridge the material and spirit worlds, and that surgery is required to break down the barrier of the senses, allowing a spirit to see the spirit world for the first time.

_Highlights Raymond's hubris and the forbidden nature of his knowledge._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/i-the-experiment
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_6_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters