THE DEEP ONES: "The Happy Children" by Arthur Machen

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THE DEEP ONES: "The Happy Children" by Arthur Machen

2paradoxosalpha
Editado: Abr 28, 2021, 12:06 pm

Having the speaker (presumably "Arthur Machen") do some debunking work as a journalist was a clever set-up for the ghost story. Joshi notes regarding "The Bowmen of Mons" that it was "Machen's attempt to pull off a kind of hoax ... The mere fact that it was published in the newspaper--even though newspapers at the time published more fiction than they do now--and the fact that it was written with the sort of plain-spoken sobriety expected of factual articles, suggest that Machen is not wholly blameless in the subsequent furor caused by his little tale" (The White People and Other Stories, x-xi).

"The Happy Children" was first published in a short story collection, but I suspect it was written a bit earlier, and possibly with the aim of periodical publication.

3AndreasJ
Abr 28, 2021, 2:51 pm

I rather liked the jab at people who believed in the angels of Mons, yes.

Otherwise I'm afraid this fell a little flat for me.

4paradoxosalpha
Abr 28, 2021, 4:12 pm

I'll agree that this sort of story is not why I consider myself a Machen fan.

5RandyStafford
Abr 29, 2021, 6:00 pm

I like this story though probably because I've read up on the various rumors and legends that circulated in the UK in WWI, particularly, of course, the one Machen inadvertently created: the Angel of Mons. It also reminds me of Machen's The Terror

I do think the village with the children is nicely evoked.

However, the stigmata-like wounding of the children is rather improbable for the 94 children lost on the Lusitania. Presumably most died from drowning. And I think Machen weakened the end with including the "innocent martyrs of Flanders and France" with the children. Perhaps he was thinking of the teenage British soldiers killed in the war. The Slaying of the Innocents is, after all, referring to very young children only.

6elenchus
Editado: mayo 2, 2021, 1:00 am

>5 RandyStafford: very young children only

Figuratively I can accept the suggestion that all three scenarios (teenage soldiers, children lost with the Lusitania, medieval martyrs) feature similarly innocent victims, though it does come across as propagandist. It’s a propaganda I find persuasive, though, and perhaps why I’m not bothered by the weak analogy.

ETA The liminalwhitby link under MISCELLANY addresses Machen’s propaganda and the events behind (and the town described in) the story.