# William Mancher — In the Midst of Life character guide

> William Mancher in In the Midst of Life by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mancher, Dr. Mancher

**First appearance:** 0067-i-one-does-not-always-marry-when-insane

## Snapshot

The physician who volunteered to play corpse in a wager of endurance, a decision whose discretion—or indiscretion—may decide whether anyone survives the night.

## Who they are

Mancher agreed to be the "subject" in a wager testing whether a man could endure hours alone with a dead body, and his willingness to rise from the dead and explain matters is the only escape hatch Helberson and Harper can imagine. But Helberson's warning—that if Mancher has had to resurrect himself he had better have been discreet—hangs over the whole scheme. His promise, and whether he keeps it cleanly, is the hinge on which the story's mounting disaster turns.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/ii)

A physician present at the gathering; jokingly volunteers to be the corpse.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/iv)

The 'corpse' who came to life, later reveals himself to Helberson and Harper seven years later.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters/dr_mancher
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters