IV: The First Vanishings explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Science vs. the Supernatural

  The characters attempt rational explanations (vapors, plant emanations) for the sleep and vanishings, but are confronted with inexplicable events.

• Forbidden Knowledge and Pride

  Throckmartin's burning desire to uncover the rock's secret overrides his wife's fear, leading to Thora's and Stanton's disappearances.

• Sacrifice and Redemption

  Thora is taken as a sacrifice to the unknown force; the group's decision to stay rather than abandon her reflects a redemptive impulse.

Characters to notice

• Dr. David Throckmartin

  Narrator of the chapter; leads the expedition and witnesses the vanishings.

• Edith Throckmartin

  Throckmartin's wife; finds Thora's kerchief fragment at the slab and insists on staying.

• Thora Halversen

  First to vanish; she walks to the slab in a trance and passes through it.

• Dr. Charles Stanton

  Second to vanish; he steps into the curdled moonlight and disappears with a cry.

• Dr. Walter T. Goodwin

  Listener to Throckmartin's story; not present in the events but addressed as the audience.

Key passages

• “I never wanted anything so much in my life as I wanted to learn what that rock concealed.”

  Throckmartin confesses his overwhelming curiosity about the rock's secret.

  Highlights the theme of forbidden knowledge.

• “The grey rock was a door! And it had opened and Thora had passed through it!”

  The slab is revealed to be a movable portal through which Thora entered.

  Key plot revelation; the supernatural nature of the rock is confirmed.

• “Stanton! But—God! What a vision!”

  Throckmartin sees Stanton transformed or illuminated in a terrifying way.

  Cliffhanger ending; Stanton's fate is left ambiguous and horrific.