Henry James's short story "The Beast in the Jungle"
illustrates the changeable behavior of May Bartram. May
Bartram shows her wide range of emotions towards John
Marcher, the story's main character, who is deeply and
increasingly in love with her. From her slightest interest
in him, to her disinterest in him, then to her deepest
confessions of love for him, May Bartram shows how her
behavior of such can change from chapter to chapter.
In chapter one of the story, May Bartram and John
Marcher meet for the first time at the Weatherend, a
mansion where guests commonly stay and socialize. Here,
May Bartram displays her first sight of interest in John:
Yet when she finally drifted toward him, it might
have been as an effect of her guessing that he
had, within the couple of hours, devoted more
imagination to her than all the others put
together (542).
May Bartram shows her slight interest in John. She started
to "drift" towards him when she noticed that he has paid
more attention to her than all the other guests that were
there in Weatherend. She continues on the same behavior in
the next chapter.
In chapter two, we find out that Miss Bartram
thinks that John is a harmless maniac when the author says:
He had a screw loose for her, but she liked him in
spite of it and was practically against the world
(551).
Having a "screw loose" may suggest that he is a maniac.
Even though the whole world may also think so, she still
likes him in spite of it. This clearly shows that Miss
Bartram's behavior towards John is changing because she no
longer is just interested in him, she actually likes him.
In the next chapter, we find out that May...