Gladiator · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Gladiator by Philip Wylie.

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Chapter 1
Dedication
The book is dedicated to Michael Shepard.
Chapter 2
Gladiator
Hugo Danner, possessing superhuman strength and invulnerability, struggles to find his place in a world that fears and rejects him. After a series of failed attempts to fit in—through football, academia, and manual labor—he enlists in the French Foreign Legion, where his powers are revealed in battle. He saves Professor Daniel Hardin, who becomes a confidant, but Hugo remains isolated and tormented by his own nature.
Chapter 3
I
Professor Abednego Danner, a biologist in Indian Creek, Colorado, conducts secret experiments to create super-strong creatures by altering their chemistry. After a breakthrough with tadpoles that smash glass and leap impossibly, he successfully creates a super-strong kitten named Samson, which accidentally kills its mother. Fearing the consequences of his discovery, Danner poisons the kitten and abandons his research, keeping his formula secret.
Chapter 4
Chapter II
Professor Abednego Danner learns that his wife Matilda is pregnant. Driven by scientific curiosity and a desire to test his serum on a human, he drugs her with an opiate-laced cordial and injects her with his experimental formula. Months later, on Christmas morning, she gives birth to a remarkably husky boy, whom Danner secretly hopes will be the superhuman result of his experiment.
Chapter 5
III
Hugo Danner's early childhood is marked by the revelation of his superhuman strength, his mother's attempts to hide it, and his first experiences with school and social ostracism. After a violent confrontation with his wife, Abednego Danner defends his experiment and prophesies Hugo's greatness. Hugo learns to conceal his abilities, becomes a voracious reader, and faces bullying from a farmer's son, which triggers his first public display of strength.

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Dedication

Gladiator

I

Chapter II

III