The World Below · Chapter
XXI: The Bat-Wings explained
The narrator wakes to find his companion has learned much from her Leader.
What happens
The narrator wakes to find his companion has learned much from her Leader. She discusses the repulsiveness of his body but suggests that if he could obtain a body like hers, they could be companions forever. She recounts how her Leader was captured by the Killers using strangling-cords and taken to a pen. The companion then shows the narrator a vision of the Bat-Wings—creatures imprisoned in the killing-pens. These are judges and witnesses from a colony judged by the Dwellers for their cruelty and injustice. The Dwellers, appalled by their wickedness, have removed nine of them for punishment and appointed one to teach the rest decency. The narrator reflects on the tale, questioning what is gained by destroying only bodies if the creatures exist apart from them.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Immortality
The companion contrasts her imperishable body with the narrator's frail, mortal one, and discusses the possibility of transformation.
Justice and Morality
The Dwellers judge the Bat-Wings for their cruelty and injustice, removing nine for their fate and showing mercy to the rest.
Alienation and Otherness
The companion finds the narrator's body repulsive, yet seeks connection; the Bat-Wings are alien and judged by the Dwellers.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
Wakes and listens to his companion's account; reflects on the nature of body and existence.
- The Dwellers
Observed the Bat-Wings colony, judged them, and removed nine for punishment; they can be merciful.
- The Killers
Captured the companion's Leader using strangling-cords; keep such cords day and night.
- The Amphibians
The companion is an amphibian; she discusses her body and the possibility of the narrator obtaining a similar one.
Key passages
“Your body is of little use, and you control it imperfectly. It needs constant repair, and it is of a kind that wears out very rapidly.”
The companion tells the narrator that his body is frail, poorly controlled, and quickly deteriorates.
Highlights the theme of mortality and the contrast between their bodies.
“The Dwellers can be very merciful.”
The companion concludes that the Dwellers showed mercy by not destroying the entire Bat-Wings colony.
Reflects the Dwellers' capacity for justice tempered with mercy.