the body snatcher by robert louis stevenson

Everyone is shocked when Fettes confronts the doctor and angrily orders him out. One night, a great London doctor named Wolfe Macfarlane is summoned to the George to treat an important local man who has taken ill. Although Fettes has lived in Debenham for many years, not much is known about him other than the fact that he is an educated man with some knowledge of medicine.

Would Hit a Girl: Fettes suspected Jane Galbraith, a woman he saw alive last, was murdered.The unnamed narrator sits every night in the parlor at the George in Debenham with the landlord, the undertaker, and an old drunken Scotsman named Fettes.

Wham Shot: Fettes and Macfarlane investigate the body they're transporting to find that it's the body of Gray they picked up, which they thought was destroyed.

Villain Protagonist: Macfarlane, and Fettes to a lesser extent.

Offing the Annoyance: Macfarlane killed Gray because he couldn't stand his obnoxious attitude around him.

Knox and the grave robbers allegedly hired to supply him bodies during his stint as a professor of medicine.

Loosely Based On A True Story: The short story references Dr.

Jerkass: Gray, who is rude and obnoxious to Macfarlane.

Fettes and Macfarlane later on are called to do the job themselves.

Grave Robbing: What a pair of shady men have been doing at the request of Dr Knox.

For Science!: The reason behind Dr Knox's need to acquire bodies, being a professor in medical school.

Drowning My Sorrows: Fettes drinks at the tavern to cope with his guilty conscience.

Blackmail: Macfarlane's method of making sure Fettes doesn't tell anyone of the bodies, pointing out he is involved in the crimes with him.

At Least I Admit It: Macfarlane doesn't deny murdering Gray when confronted by Fettes, reminding him of his involvement in delivering bodies.

That's when things don't go too well for them.Ī film adaptation of the same name starring Boris Karloff can be viewed here.ĭig up the following tropes for further study:

No matter how much Fettes wants out, he is always forced to keep silent under peril of implicating both him and Macfarlane of their crimes.īut when their employer faces a shortage of bodies for study, the pair are tasked with raiding a churchyard for another body. The story centers around Fettes and Macfarlane, who once attended medical school under anatomy professor Robert Knox, tasked with illegally delivering bodies for the doctor's uses. The Body Snatcher is a horror short story written by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in December 1884.

The body snatcher by robert louis stevenson