# The Inevitability of Misery in Figures of Earth

> Theme guide for Figures of Earth by James Branch Cabell.

Misery (personified as Béda or Kruchina) is an inescapable companion in human life, clinging to Niafer and Manuel alike, and the narrative suggests that all human endeavors are shadowed by suffering and impermanence.

## Where it surfaces

- [XV: Bandages for the Victor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xv-bandages-for-the-victor): Freydis knows that age, sorrow, and death will ambush her now that she is mortal, but she accepts this fate.
- [Part III: The Book of Cast Accounts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/part-iii-the-book-of-cast-accounts): Manuel directly addresses Misery, acknowledging its presence and the futility of trying to escape it.
- [XVIII: Manuel Chooses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xviii-manuel-chooses): Freydis states that those who attempt to bring back the dead come to misery, and Manuel's journey northward foreshadows a turn toward sorrow.
- [XIX: The Head of Misery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xix-the-head-of-misery): Manuel deliberately seeks out and confronts the Misery of earth, personified as a clay head.
- [XX: The Month of Years](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xx-the-month-of-years): Manuel serves Misery directly, and the chapter explores how suffering is an inescapable part of human existence, with Misery personified as a being that feeds on mankind.
- [XXI: Touching Repayment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxi-touching-repayment): Misery asserts that he will eventually overcome Manuel's love, returning as a formless cloud to whisper common-sense and bring low the love that defied death.
- [XXII: Return of Niafer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxii-return-of-niafer): Misery cannot be separated from Niafer and prophesies its inevitable return in human life.
- [Manuel Gets His Desire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxiii-manuel-gets-his-desire): Manuel's dealings with Misery cost him his youth, and Niafer's resurrection comes with flaws; the chapter underscores that even triumph over death carries a price.
- [Deals with the Stork](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxvi-deals-with-the-stork): The stork's lament about time and life corrupting children's innocence underscores the theme of inevitable suffering.
- [XXX: Farewell to Freydis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxx-farewell-to-freydis): Freydis notes that Melicent's life will contain 'far less of joy than of sorrow, for that is the way it is with the life of everybody.'
- [XXXI: Statecraft](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxxi-statecraft): The children placed in one cradle are fated to bring sorrow and death to each other.
- [The Troubling Window](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xxxv-the-troubling-window): Ruric's tale of the hidden children and his talk of 'all horror and all rebellion' suggest that misery and dark truths are inescapable, even in a settled life.
- [XL: Colophon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/chapters/xl-colophon): Manuel's journey with Grandfather Death and the washing away of his memories underscore the inescapable end of all human striving and the ultimate dissolution of identity.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/themes/the_inevitability_of_misery
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/figures_of_earth_se/themes