The Demon Lover

Content Warning: This section mentions wartime violence, relationship abuse, sexuality, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and demon possession.

During a brief military leave in August 1916, Kathleen’s fiancé visits her. It is during this visit that he extracts the promise of Kathleen’s fidelity—that she will wait for him regardless of what she might hear of his possible death. As he does this, he presses Kathleen’s palm repetitively into a uniform button that is sharp enough to create a cut on her hand. The subsequent “weal” is a complex symbol, enhancing different themes depending on its interpretation.

In legendary fashion, the weal shows the demon lover literally marking Kathleen and claiming her as his. The exchange is a pact with the devil, and the cut on the hand seals the deal with Kathleen’s blood. It effectively weds them, rendering her subsequent marriage to Mr. Drover an infidelity to her “sinister troth” (664).

The cut also symbolizes the guilt Kathleen experiences regarding not loving her former fiancé. After reading the letter and thinking about the past, she “instinctively look[s] for the weal left by the button” (665). This leads her to remember “the complete suspension of her existence during that August week” of her fiancé’s visit (665), as well as the fact that he was “never kind” to her (665).