28 pages • 56 minutes read
Neil GaimanOctober in the Chair
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Farmhouse
While it is never explicitly said by the author, the house and its mysterious darkness symbolize death, as Dearly says that whatever is in the house can help make the Runt a ghost. The house’s association with death is strengthened by imagery; it is “darker than anything” and smells rotten. The house also alludes to classic ghost story haunted houses and instills unease and fear in the Runt. Since the story reveals that the Runt’s family is more threatening than ghosts, the house also represents the fear and anguish the Runt feels in his broken home.
When the Runt first arrived in town, he “walked around it, becoming increasingly certain as he walked that nothing could make him go inside” (36). This shows how at the start of the story, the Runt still dreams of a better life, meaning he would not think of entering a house that would make him a ghostly companion to Dearly. As the story continues, he becomes increasingly disheartened by the thought of returning to his family, and he views the house as an escape, finally entering it in hopes of having many more perfect days with his new friend. The appeal of death for the Runt at the end of the story symbolizes how severely a bad home life can affect children.
The Campfire
The campfire that the months gather around represents unity for the months. Each month, the 12 siblings gather around the campfire to tell stories; it draws them out of the dark and gives them warmth and sustenance. The months’ space and chairs are described in detail, with October’s chair being “carved from one large block of oakwood, inlaid with ash, with cedar, and with cherrywood,” while the others sit on small stumps “worn smooth and comfortable by years of use” (30). It is clear that the months have been convening in this space for a long time and that the fire is the centerpiece, with each chair purposefully placed around it. Each month has the same access to the warmth of the fire in this arrangement; while October sits on a grander stool, they rotate chairing the meeting each month, meaning each member gets a chance to lead. Around the fire, the months are united and have equal standing. Everyone has the chance to hear and be heard. As such, the campfire represents an idealized family: nurturing, warming, convivial, and equalizing.
Eating Candy
The motif of eating candy is related to youth. The embedded narrative told by October is about a lost and ignored youth searching for his place in the world. It is a serious topic and has dark, heavy plot developments, such as neglect and abuse. The Runt is only 10 years old but is unhappy enough to run away from home and brave the scary unknown, and in the end, he decides that dying is more bearable than returning home.
Among these adult topics, the Runt’s age is reasserted through his food choices. As he plots his escape, he packs beef jerky even though, “[h]e did not like the taste of beef jerky, but he had read that explorers had survived weeks on nothing else” (34). Though he packs the meat, he only eats candy on his trip. He is a child who, when given freedom, sustains himself with the often forbidden sweetness of candy. When he first arrives in the abandoned town, he eats a Mars bar, and before entering the farmhouse at the end of the story, he eats a Milky Way. The candy represents that at its core, this story is about a child despite the adult decisions he makes. Candy’s appearance before making life-altering decisions implies that he doesn’t quite understand the implications of his choices; it is not clear that he understands he must die to become a ghost.
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By Neil Gaiman
