This wasn't my first encounter with James' "beast." Not more than a few months ago, I was reading this same exact story in my Creative Writing Fiction Workshop, and was equally as intrigued with the piece then as I am now.
The question that still lingers in my mind with regard to this piece is this: What keeps us reading this story? Why don't we give up after the tenth page or so? I don't mean to disrespect James, of course, as the brilliant writer he is, but his The Beast in the Jungle personally wasn't my favorite piece because of how long it keeps us from what seems to be "the point" of the story -- Marcher's shocking revelation, his "deep, dark secret." While we can understand why a reader may become frustrated with James for playing us for so long, only to let us down with a purpose that not only bypasses us, but the protagonist as well, we must also praise James for the aspects of the piece and his writing that do in fact make us want to read the piece in its entirety. If not the structure of the plot, it's the curiosity of his diction and language use, the odd, sexless relationship between his two main characters, and the poignant and suspenseful moments between them that keep us hanging on -- even though we are indeed left hanging at the end. Perhaps we appreciate the piece because we feel like James has pulled one over on us -- building us up to think something dramatic and earth-shattering was going to happen, but having the anti-climactic ending act as the real tragedy and catastrophe in the end.
Maybe that's what keeps us reading.
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