# William Hayner Gordon — Can Such Things Be? character guide

> William Hayner Gordon in Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gordon

**First appearance:** 0020-a-resumed-identity

## Snapshot

A reflective sea traveler drawn into a stranger's eyes, Gordon finds his soul entangled with kin he never knew he had.

## Who they are

Aboard the Morrow, Gordon befriends Miss Janette Harford, a young woman bound for Devonshire, and discovers their families share an uncanny connection. When he looks into her eyes, he sees a crowd of familiar strangers peering back through her, a vision that unsettles him more than love ever could. His introspective nature and growing obsession with this phenomenon place him at the center of a tale about souls that cross paths before bodies ever meet.

## In the story

### [The Mystery of Charles Farquharson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-mystery-of-charles-farquharson)

The protagonist who discovers a mysterious corpse in his bedroom and later learns of its connection to Charles Farquharson.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters/william_hayner_gordon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters