The neurotic, hesitant tone of The Beast in the Jungle reflects the mindset of its protagonist, John Marcher. These tonal qualities become clear in Chapter 1 when the narrator describes Marcher's vague memory of May:
It led, briefly, in the course of the October afternoon, to his closer meeting with May Bartram, whose face, a reminder, yet not quite a remembrance, as they sat much separated at a very long table, had begun merely by troubling him rather pleasantly.
In this passage, a befuddled Marcher desperately searches his own mind for memories of May, whom he met 10 years prior in Naples. The abundance of commas suggests the many pauses, twists, and turns in Marcher's mind. He can barely form a thought or memory. This sentence seems almost to interrupt itself, and it distinguishes between "reminder" and "remembrance," which reveals Marcher's intellectual self-consciousness. The separation between the note about May Bartram's face and the fact that it "had begun merely by troubling him" also enacts in text what happens in the story, as the two are "separated at a very long table." Even as their friendship grows, there remains a gulf between them, because Marcher cannot pick up on May's loving hints. He rather waits for his fate, anxiously deferring action. The neurotic, hesitant tone that is present from the first chapter reflects Marcher's passivity and defines his character early on in the story.
