52 pages • 1 hour read
T. KingfisherWhat Moves the Dead
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to suicide.
Easton reels from the shock of Madeline’s missing body, and Miss Potter suggests that Easton is still upset by Madeline’s death. Madeline’s shroud is on the floor, and Easton shows it to Miss Potter, asking if the white hairs on the fabric are hyphae. Using a magnifying glass, she examines the hairs and determines that they are indeed fungal hyphae. Miss Potter assumes that the hyphae are from “Saprophytic fungi,” which grow on rotting substances, but Easton says that the hairs were growing on Madeline while she was still alive. Miss Potter advises warning everyone in the house so that they can stop the spread of the fungus. She douses Easton’s hands in alcohol, and Easton reflects on the sick hares and fish, questioning whether Angus is infected and wondering where Madeline’s body is.
Easton and Miss Potter tell Denton about Madeline’s missing body, and he agrees with Easton that Roderick may have moved the body. However, Denton has given Roderick a strong soporific. Easton believes that Roderick is infected with the same fungus as Madeline, which confuses Denton. Miss Potter steps in to explain. They need to perform an autopsy to prove their hypothesis, so Easton goes out in search of another hare.
Angus saw a deceased hare by the lake, and he and Easton retrieve it. They return to the house and use the dinner table for an operating table. Angus greets Miss Potter, who blushes and returns the greeting. (A few days ago, Angus held her umbrella while she was painting.) Now, Miss Potter advises the others to cover their faces to avoid inhaling spores, and Denton begins the autopsy. The inside of the hare is filled with a dark red fungus. Next, they cut into the lungs to determine whether the hare has died. The lungs are packed with white, cotton-like fungus, but as the group discusses this, the hare begins to move. Easton, Denton, and Angus scream, and Miss Potter pins the hare down with her umbrella, offering to hold it in place while someone else kills it again. Easton cuts off the hare’s head, but the head keeps moving, dragging itself forward by its teeth.
After leaving to vomit, Easton returns to the dining room. The group learns that the fungus was concentrated near the hare’s brainstem; although the hare was dead, the fungus was controlling its body. Easton mentions Madeline, but Denton stops kan, unable to contemplate the implications. Miss Potter tells them not to throw the hare in the lake because doing so might contaminate the water supply, but Angus tells her that the fungus is already in the water, so everyone staying at the house of Usher may be infected. They decide to burn the hare, the tablecloth, and the autopsy tools. When night falls, they notice strange lights and realize that the light is coming from the lake. Then they see a hare standing and watching them. The group discusses how to kill the fungus. Easton instructs Angus to take Miss Potter away from the area in order to protect her and to get help, as she is the only one with extensive knowledge of mycology.
Chapter 11 Summary
Denton and Easton are left alone, and Easton tells Denton that ka knows about Madeline’s broken neck. Denton admits that Roderick had asked for help with Madeline’s “madness,” and he shows Easton the letter that Roderick sent. In the letter, Roderick talks about strange fluctuations in Madeline’s mental state; these patterns began after she almost drowned in the lake. When Denton came to the house, he noticed that sometimes Madeline was her usual self, but at other times, she acted like a different person. When she had her accident, Madeline had been in the lake for hours. Roderick, believing her to be dead, had her moved to the crypt that night; however, she woke up and began talking in a strange voice. Denton previously thought that the suicide of the maid, Alice, was the catalyst for Madeline’s strange behavior, but now he realizes that the fungus infected both Alice and Madeline.
Easton asks Denton why Roderick killed Madeline. Denton explains that Roderick had been trying to kill the thing that had taken over Madeline’s body. Denton covered for Roderick, understanding that Roderick does not have long to live. Easton then articulates the thought that Madeline is now being moved by the fungus. They assume that she is still in the crypt, so they go to find her so that they can burn her body. When they get there, the door is open. Denton thinks that Madeline is still inside and argues that the fungus could not possibly move Madeline’s body up the stairs. However, two sets of footprints show that Madeline walked into the deeper recesses of the crypt and then back out again. There are white hairs on the crypt door. Easton posits that Madeline is still alive, and ka and Denton worry that Madeline has gone to get revenge on Roderick for breaking her neck. Running up the stairs and into the house, they find Madeline sitting on Roderick’s bed.
Chapters 10-11 Analysis
These chapters use graphic imagery to enhance the horror elements in the tale, and Kingfisher deliberately juxtaposes the darkness of the plot with humor and the subtle budding romance between Angus and Miss Potter. She also increases the suspense through the suggestion that all of the visitors at the house of Usher—Denton, Easton, and Angus—may soon meet the same fate as Madeline and Roderick.
Chapter 10 in particular contains a multitude of ideas that align with the horror genre, the most prominent of which occurs when Madeline’s inexplicable disappearance is coupled with Easton’s desperate assertion that “The dead don’t walk” (113). Ironically, the repetition of this statement merely serves to imply its opposite, emphasizing that the deceased Madeline is indeed walking around. This deliberate conflation of life and death pays homage to the common motifs of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing, which include morbid contemplations of affliction, death, and the horror of being buried alive. The Gothic elements of the story are also reinforced through the autopsy scene, which combines graphic imagery with scientific trappings to create a visceral yet credible depiction of fungi-dominated zombies. This implication becomes most prominent when the deceased hare begins to move and remains animated even after being decapitated. The visceral revulsion of Easton’s tone punctuates the scene as ka states, “I looked at the head pinned under the umbrella and saw the mouth opening and closing, the chisel teeth catching in the tablecloth, and then my gorge rose and I turned and ran to the privy” (122). These descriptions create a vivid impression of the autopsy and the reanimation of the dead hare, and Easton’s reaction enhances the mood of suspense and horror.
Despite the intensity of such moments, the dark tone of the story is juxtaposed with contrasting elements of humor, romance, and sarcasm. For example, the tension of Madeline’s disappearance is lessened by Easton’s humorous interpretation of Miss Potter’s behavior upon observing that one of her comments is “a polite English way of saying that she thought I was a squalling lunatic” and wryly admitting, “I couldn’t argue the point” (113). Likewise, the horror of the autopsy is juxtaposed with the emergence of Angus and Miss Potter’s budding romance, which is subtly suggested through Miss Potter’s admission that Angus held her umbrella while she was painting a mushroom. The tension and horror of the autopsy are also disrupted when Denton observes that the hare is female and Easton inwardly wonders, “And if it were human, would it be diagnosed with hysterical catalepsy?” (120). The irony of this unspoken retort contributes to The Reinterpretation of Classic Literature by satirizing the practice of dismissing women’s mental health with “hysteria,” a common occurrence during the time frame in which the novella is set.
Until this point of the narrative, Easton and Denton have been onlookers who are personally concerned about the fates of their friends but have no particular worries about their own safety. However, when Miss Potter introduces the idea that the visitors may be at risk of contracting Madeline’s fungal infection, her actions of dousing Easton’s hands in alcohol and advising the others to cover their faces before the autopsy inject the narrative with an element of danger and urgency. The threat of contagion is further intensified by the fact that the inhabitants of the house of Usher have been getting their drinking water directly from the tarn. However, neither Easton nor Denton make any significant efforts to protect themselves from contamination, and rather than fleeing the property as Poe’s unnamed narrator did in the original short story, they remain willing to risk their lives in order to stop the spread of the dangerous fungus. This decision demonstrates their courage under pressure—a trait that benefitted them during their respective military services—and their determination to directly combat the threat implies that both characters are inherently moral.
Related Titles
By T. Kingfisher
