The child

Outer characterization

The main character of the short story “Born of Man and Woman” by Richard Matheson is the child. Throughout the story, the child’s gender is not specified, so it is difficult to say whether it is a boy or a girl. We know that the child is eight years old (p. 184, l. 36). The child is kept in the cellar, chained to a wall (p. 184, l. 4). Because it has been locked up all its life, the child speaks in broken English and does not understand basic concepts. Furthermore, the narrative implies that the child is very strong and always manages to pull the chain out of the wall (p. 185, ll. 40-41).

The main feature which physically characterizes the child is its deformity. Although the story is not explicit with this point, there are certain details which help readers get an overall view of the character....