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The Beast In The Jungle Literary Analysis

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In “The Beast in the Jungle” by Henry James, the theme develops throughout the story to add a surprising twist at the end. The main character, John Marcher, is in a constant state of belief that something will happen in his life that will either change it for the better or worse. He really does not care which, he is just waiting for that defining moment throughout his entire life until his life is almost over. He then realizes that during his passive state of mind he has missed out on so many opportunities that he could have taken advantage of, one of the most important being love. May Bartram is reacquainted with Marcher and they talk about his secret and she decides to join him and witness this spectacular event that they now both believe …show more content…

Throughout the story James discusses fate, loneliness, love, and death which in some way relate to many of the people of not only that time but also the present day feelings that people have. Many people can relate this story to their lives, maybe not in exact context, but in an overall, general sense. The discussion of fate and loneliness leads one to believe in something that may or may not be there. One could call this hope, this hope that James displayed through Marcher truly depicts the paradigmatic thinking of the …show more content…

Although, sadly, he was too busy looking for an actual event instead of the person that was standing in front of him the whole time. Another essay of criticism that speaks on Marcher being oblivious to May Bartram is, “Confusion and compensation in Henry James's "The Beast in the Jungle"” by Markus Schulte. Schulte states, “On the graveyard, he catches sight of a mourning man. When seeing the anguished face, Marcher finally realizes that “no passion had ever touched him”” (paragraph 16). This is a big deal because Marcher is looking back on his life and is realizing that he did not have any real, passionate relationships in his life. He is sitting at May Bartram’s grave and possible thinking that he could have had something with her if he was not so caught up in himself. The final essay of criticism I found was “An Analysis and Summary of Henry James' "The Beast in the Jungle"” by LetterPile.com. Letter Pile states, “Marcher is blind to his own failings and often deceives himself about who he truly is. For instance, it is clear that May Bartram could be the love of his life if only he allowed himself to love her in return” (paragraph 6). It is clear in the story that May Bartram loved Marcher however when she tries to express this love to him he is so caught up in himself that he is blind to it. These three essays of criticism criticize the way Marcher acts and thinks when Bartram tries

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