"The Boarded Window: An Incident in the Life of an Ohio Pioneer" is a short story by

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

soldier and writer

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...

. It was first published in ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'' on April 12, 1891, and was reprinted the same year in Bierce's collection ''

Tales of Soldiers and Civilians ''Tales of Soldiers and Civilians'' is a collection of short stories by American Civil War soldier, wit, and writer Ambrose Bierce, also published under the title ''In the Midst of Life''. With a stated publication date of 1891 (but actually publ ...

''. The setting for the story is the part of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

where Bierce's family lived until 1846.

Plot

The story tells of a man named Murlock who lived alone in his cabin and was found dead one day. He was buried near the cabin next to his wife. The narrator tells the reader that this is all the known facts of the story, but there are some whispers about what had happened. In 1820, Murlock had returned from hunting to find his wife in dire fits that eventually caused her to die. There was no means of saving her and thus, he found himself alone with her dead body. Later on, with her dead in the room, he fell asleep. When he awoke there was some other presence in the room and he could feel it. The table shakes and there is movement but in the dark it is hard to discern. He fires his rifle to see what is going on and witnesses a panther dragging his wife by the neck. Upon examining his wife's corpse, Murlock sees that there is part of the panther's ear in between her teeth.

Analysis

Bierce's story of a man who incorrectly thinks his wife has died of fever is thought to have been influenced by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's " The Premature Burial". "That of Granny Magone" is Bierce's earlier treatment of a similar subject. According to author Patricia Garcia, the entire story is structured around the boarded window, a kind of symbolic threshold which unites the turning points of the narrative and "functions to enhance the suspense by directing attention toward the question of why it is boarded".Patricia García. ''Space and the Postmodern Fantastic in Contemporary Literature: The Architectural Void''. Routledge, 2015. . P. 28.

Adaptations

''Okno zabite deskami'' (1971), directed by Janusz Majewski, is a film adaptation of the short story. A radio adaptation of "The Boarded Window" was broadcast on April 3, 2001, via National Public Radio, as part of '' Radio Tales''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boarded Window, The 1891 short stories Horror short stories Short stories by Ambrose Bierce Ohio in fiction Works originally published in the San Francisco Examiner