"The Beast in the Jungle" (1903)

This late longish story by Henry James is both a fine example of his language at its most tangled, tentative, and nuanced—with approximately one million hedges before the arrival of any period at the end of any sentence—and also a tender and penetrating love story among the middle-aged. We have a good deal more psychological jargon now for the romance at hand—better make that "friendship," the term of choice by author and principals alike—and the general direction it takes between John Marcher and May Bartram. "Fear of commitment" will do, most of that on Marcher's side (of course). The title refers to a conviction Marcher has long held that he will one day be called upon to confront something great and fearsome in his life (the "beast in the jungle" of the title), and hopes only to be able to rise to the occasion when it comes. He admitted this to her spontaneously, when they had met once when they both were in their 20s. When they meet again in their 30s she raises it as a question and he confirms his continuing belief. This is not such an unusual fantasy in the scheme of things (or oops, maybe I gave away something about myself there), but May takes him as seriously as he takes himself, and designs to stay by his side, waiting with him. Waiting is as much what this story is about as anything, and one of its great surprises, as in life, is the swiftness of time. They enter their middle age together, waiting—with respect and even with affection, waiting. Then May becomes deathly ill, sees the beast itself that John must face—a very specific one, and not death—and spends the rest of the story trying to protect him from it, refusing to name it for him. It is almost maddening the way James dances around the point, but it is finally a real and profound one, and it finally gets through to us and to John too, after May has died. It's a remarkable achievement, I think. Terrifying, profound, and believable, tying up its loose ends with grace and humility, it pretty much has to be told the way James has done so.

"interlocutor" count = 0 / 42 pages

In case it's not at the library. (Library of America)