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Can Such Things Be? · Character

Hiram Beeson

A man whose death precedes his story, whose buried body and unsettled business draw the living back to a grave they cannot leave alone.

supporting

Also known as Mr. Hiram Beeson, Mr. Beeson

First appearance: the ways of ghosts

As a supporting figure in Can Such Things Be?, Hiram Beeson is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The sole inhabitant of Deadman's Gulch, a gaunt and ragged man of twenty-eight who looks much older.
In the storyThe Night-Doings at "Deadman's"Open this moment free

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Hiram Beeson dies on the sixteenth of July, 1863, known to every man, woman, and grown child in his village, and is buried two days later with a funeral the local paper cannot ignore. Around his death gather the…

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The fuller portrait of Hiram Beeson sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

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Character Web

5 connections

A slice of how Hiram Beeson sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

BGBen GreeneWJWhisky JoHFHalpin FrayserHAHaïtaJMJohn MayHBHiram Beeson

Relationship types

  • Rivalry
  • Other

Character groups

  • Returned from Dead
  • Drunkard's Supernatural
  • Mysterious Tragedies
  • Protagonist

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.

SetupAftermathClimax
  • Setup
  • Breaking point
  • Aftermath
  • Closing

This passage marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of the narrato…

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Relationships

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

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In the story

Hiram Beeson appears across 1 companion beat. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Hiram Beeson unlock in the free preview.

See Hiram Beeson in the ways of ghosts