“A Warning to the Curious” presents a broad view of spirituality that incorporates aspects of Christianity as well as folklore. Some aspects of the story’s underlying spiritual landscape are unknown even to the characters, but the story implies that in times of uncertainty, unconventional signs of spirituality or otherworldliness shouldn’t be automatically ignored—in fact, the story even hints that there might be reason to embrace such beliefs when facing the unknown or the inexplicable.
Paxton seems not to believe that the crown has any real power. He senses a presence as he digs for the crown and even feels nails scraping his back, but he continues as though these supernatural threats are meaningless. Since he ignores these signs, it seems likely that Paxton holds a traditional religious view that doesn’t incorporate ghosts or local legends, so he’s stubbornly and arrogantly unmoved by otherwise obvious signs that something supernatural is afoot. After all, he certainly encounters signs of some kind of greater force or power. But he overlooks them, and this demonstrates just how arrogantly set in his ways he is. By the end of the story, the power of the ghost and the crown is finally made clear to Paxton, but it’s too late: the damage has already been done, and the ghost kills him as a result. In turn, the story warns against thoughtlessly discounting certain systems of belief simply because they don’t align with more traditional ways of thinking.
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Folklore, Religion, and Belief Quotes in A Warning to the Curious
[…] them Germans would a landed here time and again, they would. Landed with their ships, and killed man, woman and child in their beds. Now then, that's the truth what I'm telling you, that is; and if you don't believe me, you ast the rector. There he comes: you ast him, I says.
You see, he’s light and weak, but all the same I daren't face him. Well, then, when I was making the tunnel, of course it was worse, and if I hadn't been so keen I should have dropped the whole thing and run. It was like someone scraping at my back all the time.
We looked out of the window: there was a brilliant full moon—the Paschal moon.
But under observation we felt we were, as I have never felt it at another time. Specially was it so when we passed out of the churchyard into a narrow path with close high hedges, through which we hurried as Christian did through that Valley; and so got out into open fields.
Yet, in all this quiet, an acute, an acrid consciousness of a restrained hostility very near us, like a dog on a leash that might be let go at any moment.
His tracks showed that he had run along the side of the battery, had turned sharp round the corner of it, and, small doubt of it, must have dashed straight into the open arms of someone who was waiting there. His mouth was full of sand and stones, and his teeth and jaws were broken to bits.
