# XVI explained — The Magician

> Chapter companion for The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham.

## What happens

Arthur remains in Venning, consumed by hatred and a desire for vengeance against Oliver Haddo. Susie and Dr. Porhoët try to persuade him to leave, but he is resolute. During a tense, stormy night, Haddo mysteriously enters the room, and Arthur strangles him to death in a violent struggle. Later, the group discovers Haddo's laboratory filled with monstrous, failed experiments, confirming his dark work.

## Themes in this chapter

### Obsession and Control

Arthur's obsessive hatred and desire for vengeance control his actions, leading to murder.

### Good vs. Evil

The struggle between Arthur and Haddo represents a clear moral battle, ending with the destruction of the evil Haddo.

### Madness and Reality

Arthur's irrational fixation and the grotesque laboratory creations blur the line between sanity and madness.

## Character check-ins

### Arthur Burdon

Moody and obsessed with vengeance, he refuses to leave Venning and ultimately kills Haddo in a dark struggle.

### Susie Boyd

Anxious and determined to restrain Arthur, she stays to compromise him and witnesses the murder and the laboratory horrors.

### Dr. Porhoët

Present during the struggle and later identifies the cause of Haddo's death as suffocation, also examining the broken arm.

### Oliver Haddo

The antagonist who intrudes and is strangled by Arthur; his dead body is later found in his laboratory among monstrous creations.

### Margaret Dauncey

Referenced as the victim of Haddo's fiendish torture, driving Arthur's desire for revenge.

## Key lines

> Arthur would not leave the little village of Venning. Neither Susie nor the doctor could get him to make any decision.

Arthur refused to depart from Venning, and neither Susie nor the doctor could persuade him to decide on a course of action.

_Sets the scene of Arthur's stubbornness and the group's concern._

> I've killed him.

He announced that he had taken Haddo's life.

_Climactic moment after the struggle._

> He died of suffocation.

Dr. Porhoët determined that Haddo had been strangled to death.

_Medical confirmation of the murder._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magician_se/chapters/xvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magician_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magician_se/chapters