In the human psyche, when waiting for the inevitable to happen, not knowing "when" is something that would surely plague us all. In the story, The Beast in The Jungle, written by Henry James, the main characters, John Marcher and May Bartram, meet one another after 10 years, with May still remembering his very odd secret. Marcher believes that whether good or bad, something prominent is bound to happen to him in his life. May buys a house in England which Marcher stays in with while they try and figure out both his problem and the complicating relationship they seem to have or not have. For this story the ongoing question is, Who or What is the beast in The Jungle? The beast in The Jungle is in fact May Bartram or what happens to her.
In the story May Bartram is used as complementary figure to Marcher. With the story surrounding the thoughts and feelings of Marcher for the most part we find little about May and her background. Besides the fact that she is twenty years old and living in her dead mother's house in England. Although herself and Marcher often engage in insightful and in depth conversation, we only get insight on Marcher, not May. The conversations they have hinted possible feelings for one another, though they both do not want to directly say it, and consistently hints about Marcher's "beast", but never anything dealing with May's life. Taking all that into consideration, May seems to be an individual who chooses not to divulge her true feelings. It may because she already knew what kind of man Marcher was and decided to love him for who he was unconditionally. She does although mention helping be just like any other man; one who does not obsess with the same things he does, " It's all that concerns me, to help you to pass for a man like another". However, May and Marcher never have any sort of romantic relationship. May sadly fell ill and died, leaving Marcher in a even bigger rut and have lived her life loving him without expecting him to give or reciprocate the same.
