The Beast in the Jungle Literary Elements

Existentialist short story

London, assumed to be late nineteenth century

Third person, omnipresent narrative. Yet it is a narration that does not reveal all - we never find out what/whom the 'beast' is. They seem to write with the knowledge of hindsight, and often break from their narrative voice to make comments in the parenthesis.

The tone of the short story is relatively sombre in it's constant questioning as to the meaning of life. Tension begins to build throughout the story as the reader in constantly agitated by John's refusal to find happiness with May,and instead looking for this mysterious higher power.

James Marcher is the protagonist. May Bertram is the antagonist in so much that she opposes his way of thinking, even if she acts as a friend.

Throughout the story, there is little in the way of conflict. Much is unsaid, and the whole plot revolves around Marcher doing, essentially, nothing. Therefore, perhaps the major conflict is not physical, but mentally within Marcher's consciousness. He is constantly fighting again this 'beast', the possibility that he is meant for something more in life, whilst letting his life slip by.

This occurs in Chapter Four. May is increasingly ill, and Marcher visits her at his home. She says that she 'knows' and he demands that she tell him. She seems to almost glow, and tells Marcher that 'the door's open'. When Marcher questions her, she is too ill to tell him. There is a mere paragraph of a climax before we return to the same ambitious narrative.

Foreshadowing seems to haunt this novel throughout it's entirety. It begins at with Marcher and May's first meeting. They have met before, but only she remembers. As he recounts their previous meeting, she corrects him and he enjoys her amendments. Likewise, May seems to spend the whole novel knowing what Marcher does not, a higher knowledge. And the foreshadowing only continues; Marcher spends years talking about this 'beast', foreshadowing only further lack of action.

Marcher is a selfish character, and happily allows May to dedicate her life to his musings. He makes it clear that he does not want her as a wife, only as a companion. Marcher forces May to become an understatement of everything she does. Her past, feelings and speculations pale in to unimportance compared to Marcher.

The entire novel is made up of allusion. The issue with this short story is that the reader is unsure what James is ever alluding to. Marcher and May spend their time alluding to something that we can only ever refer to as the 'beast'. All we can ever do is suggest allusions, but the reader can never be certain.

The strongest image is this 'crouching beast in the Jungle'. Marcher is unsure whether it should be slain, or if it will slay him. Henry James does not specify what the beast represents, so it is an ambiguous image. It is often speculated that the beast represents unfulfilled potential. In the end, Marcher neither slays, and is slain only by old age.

The most obvious paradox lies in Marcher himself. He believes he has been chosen for 'something rare and strange', and spends his life waiting for this to happen. In this very act of believing he is special, the protagonist wastes a lifetime of potential, and this 'something' never seems to happen.

There is a sad parallel between Marcher and May. She becomes his companion, and almost morphs in to a female version of his own questioning self. She parallels this frame of mind right up to her death. The parallels only stop when Marcher is left alone; he is able to continue his life, and travels extensively. Perhaps the only parallel left is that as May's life leaves her, Marcher's already has.

Due to James' unusual style and ambiguous narration, the use of metonymy is not standard. For example, Marcher asks May: “Do you mean I told you—?” in Chapter One. Instead of using one word to refer to another, James instead uses punctuation, specifically a long dash. This is the ultimate symbol that there is simply no way of naming what Marcher is looking for.

The act of waiting for this 'something' to happen is so central that it almost becomes a character in itself. Marcher comments that: 'I think of it simply as the thing'. This thing overshadows and controls his life, as if they are a physical entity.