The Madman · Chapter
The Other Language explained
The narrator recounts his infancy and early life, where he spoke a language from another world that no one—his mother, nurse, priest, or a soothsayer—could understand.
What happens
The narrator recounts his infancy and early life, where he spoke a language from another world that no one—his mother, nurse, priest, or a soothsayer—could understand. Over time, he forgets this language and accepts the soothsayer's prophecy that he would become a musician, which was originally his own claim.
Themes in this chapter
The Multiplicity of Self
The narrator's early self speaks a language from another world, but over time he forgets it and adopts the identity others project onto him, illustrating the fragmentation and loss of original self.
Illusion and Reality
The soothsayer's false prophecy is later accepted as truth by the narrator, blurring the line between what was originally real (his own claim) and the illusion he comes to believe.
Characters to notice
- The Madman
The narrator, reflecting on his infancy and the forgotten language of his origin.
Key passages
“Three days after I was born, as I lay in my silken cradle, gazing with astonished dismay on the new world round about me, my mother spoke to the wet-nurse, saying, 'How does my child?' And the wet-nurse answered, 'He does well, Madame, I have fed him three times; and never before have I seen a babe so young yet so gay.' And I was indignant; and I cried, 'It is not true, mother; for my bed is hard, and the milk I have sucked is bitter to my mouth, and the odour of the breast is foul in my nostrils, and I am most miserable.' But my mother did not understand, nor did the nurse; for the language I spoke was that of the world from which I came.”
As a newborn, the narrator experiences discomfort and misery, but his mother and nurse misinterpret his cries as contentment because they cannot understand the language of his pre-birth world.
Highlights the theme of the multiplicity of self and the alienation of the narrator from those around him.
“And after three and thirty years, during which my mother, and the nurse, and the priest have all died, (the shadow of God be upon their spirits) the soothsayer still lives. And yesterday I met him near the gates of the temple; and while we were talking together he said, 'I have always known you would become a great musician. Even in your infancy I prophesied and foretold your future.' And I believed him—for now I too have forgotten the language of that other world.”
Thirty-three years later, the soothsayer claims credit for predicting the narrator's musical career, and the narrator accepts this false memory because he has lost all connection to his original self and language.
Illustrates the theme of illusion and reality, as the narrator adopts a fabricated past.