Re: Rudyard Kipling's "The Mark of the Beast" vrs. Edward Lucas White's "Lukundoo".
Posted by:
Sawfish (IP Logged)
Date: 29 September, 2020 12:53PM
Dale Nelson Wrote:
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> "At the End of the Passage" is certainly a horror
> story. Kipling also makes it a story of "grace
> under pressure." These men don't particularly
> like each other, but they need each other and they
> recognize the imperative of duty. They try to do
> the right thing.
I'd like to discuss "Passage" at greater depth, especially the structure of the story, and some parts of what actually happened to Hummil, "poor old chap...".
Let me make it clear that I really enjoyed this story--better than "Imray" and the "Beast"--and as you mention later in this post, it's because I got to learn a whole lot about the commonplace workings of the British Raj. Plus the weather, the living quarters, the food, the natives, etc.
This was tremendously interesting and enjoyable to me.
OK, now into the specifics...
The copy of the story I have is 17 pages long. The first 9 pages are devoted to the miserable conditions, the past suicide of a guy called Jevins, etc. We are saturated with the tangible misery of living there, from the POV of a British subject. It isn't until after the card game, etc., when the other two guys go home, that even an inkling of the problem arises, nor is there any clue up to that point (and beyond, actually) that there is any supernatural element to the tale.
We need remember by name only Hummil and the doctor, Spurstow.
When the others leave, Hummil wants them to stay, but only Spurstow stays. They turn in, but Spurstow notices that Hummil is laying there, all wound up, not sleeping. At this point Hummil tells Spurstow of his troubles, which is principally fear of being caught and killed in a sort of ill-defined quasi dream state.
Now the nature of this state becomes confusing--and it is well to note that so far we know of nothing that Hummil has done--although reading the story quickly, I may have missed either an admission or an inference of some punishable sin by Hummil--to deserve what follows.
Hummil seems to say that he can't sleep, and he is essentially stalked by something fearful--and it appears to me that he's most vulnerable when half-asleep. It seems that if he's either awake, or deeply, soundly asleep, he's OK, and we know the latter because he seeks sleep (of course) in the form of medical intervention--and he emerged from this sound enough. Spurstow uses morphine (carried in his *cigarette case*---hmmmm....), but not enough. And in this haf-state Hummil explains that he'll be caught unless he's all the way asleep, apparently. He never fully explains how this works, but we can get this thru inference.
So far we *still* don't know why he has been singled out for this fate, so while his eventual demise looks a lot like moral recompense, he seems innocent of any wrong-doing, knowingly or unknowingly (like in "Imray").
After a good night's sleep, Hummil feels better and says that he's going to stick it out until the rains, *even though Spurstow will help him get leave*. This is done for very noble reasons; Hummil's replacement, and his wife, would not be able to take the heat of that part of India as well as Hummil.
To get to the point, a week passes, Spurstow and the two others meet for their weekend festivities, and discover Hummil dead, but with the mark of terror on his face, and something peculiar about the pupils of his eyes. Ironically, one of the two expresses a sort of envy...
They question the servants and one of them makes reference to this same thing happening to natives "when the spell is laid on them". Only we know nothing of any spell, nor any reason Hummil should be the target of such a spell.
Finally, Spurstow takes some photos of Hummil's pupils, but destroys the images, leading us to believe that there was something recogizable, and too terrible for words, to be seen there.
So:
1) Why did this supernatural visitation happen to Hummil?
2) What was in his pupils?
I'll note also a minor flaw; Kipling uses as sort of collective omniscient narrative POV, but when Spurstow leaves, the POV shifts to Hummil, alone, noting an image of himself on the veranda--this is the first time we've ever been in Hummil's head, seeing thru his eyes, and it's kind of jarring; it's also the only time we see from Hummil's eyes. This is noticeable enough for to notice the reader, but it's minor. Maybe even it just me being overly picky...
Thoughts? Comments?
--Sawfish
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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Sep 20 | 12:57PM by Sawfish.