Section XX:

Henry now lives above the Trescott carriage-house. Jimmie has returned from Connecticut and “was at first much afraid of the monster who lived in the room over the carriage-house. He could not identify it in any way. Gradually, however, his fear dwindled under the influence of a weird fascination. He sidled into closer and closer relations with it.”  Jimmie and his friends observe Henry sitting behind the stable, and an older boy dares Jimmie to go up to Henry and touch him.  Jimmie touches Henry fearfully on the shoulder, and Henry does not respond.  It becomes a game for the boys until a neighbor breaks them up.

Jimmie was once close enough to Henry to go confess to him. Jimmie once looked up to Henry. Now, Jimmie thinks of Henry as something to gawk at, something to play around.  Jimmie no longer respects Henry the monster. Why didn’t Henry react when Jimmie touched him?  Was he playing dumb? Was he trying to not scare Jimmie away? Crane effectively keeps Henry’s mental health a secret.  The mystique makes him more of a monster by raising the question of what makes a human a human? Is it the face? Is it the mind? If Henry has neither, is he really a human still?

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