# The Letter explained — The Dead Letter > Chapter companion for The Dead Letter by Metta Victor. ## What happens The narrator, Richard Redfield, while working in the Dead Letter office, is inexplicably drawn to a two-year-old letter addressed to John Owen. Upon opening it, he finds a cryptic message that stirs a deep personal connection, prompting him to reflect on the past. ## Themes in this chapter ### Fate and Providence Redfield is inexplicably drawn to the letter, suggesting a fated connection or providential intervention in his otherwise monotonous work. ### Appearance vs. Reality Redfield appears cold and cynical to his colleagues, yet internally he is moved by sentiment and imagination, contrasting his outward demeanor with his inner self. ## Character check-ins ### Richard Redfield The narrator and protagonist, working in the Dead Letter office, who becomes fixated on a mysterious letter. ### John Owen The addressee of the dead letter, though not personally known to Redfield. ## Key lines > I paused suddenly in my work. Over a year’s experience in the Dead Letter office had given a mechanical rapidity to my movements in opening, noting and classifying the contents of the bundles before me; and, so far from there being anything exciting to the curiosity, or interesting to the mind, in the employment, it was of the most monotonous character. I stopped working abruptly. After more than a year at the Dead Letter office, I had become so efficient at opening, sorting, and cataloging mail that the job felt purely mechanical, offering nothing to spark curiosity or engage the mind—it was utterly dull. _Redfield describes the monotony of his work, setting the stage for the unusual event that follows._ > I know not what magnetism passed from it, putting me, as the spiritualists say, en rapport with it; I had not yet cut the lappet; and the only thing I could fix upon as the cause of my attraction was, that at the date indicated on the envelope, I had been a resident of Blankville, twenty miles from Peekskill—and something about that date! I don't know what strange force drew me to it, making me feel connected, as spiritualists would say. I hadn't even opened the envelope yet; the only reason I could think of for my fascination was that on the date stamped on the letter, I had been living in Blankville, just twenty miles from Peekskill—and there was something about that date! _Redfield experiences an inexplicable attraction to the letter, hinting at a deeper, possibly supernatural connection._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_dead_letter_se/chapters/part-i-i-the-letter - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_dead_letter_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_dead_letter_se/chapters