# the Faun — Short Fiction character guide

> the Faun in Short Fiction by E. M. Forster.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0008-the-story-of-a-panic

## Snapshot

A mythical creature glimpsed in a Wiltshire chalk down, who unsettles a clergyman's carefully managed life of sermons and self-deception.

## Who they are

The Faun haunts the beech copse and Roman earthworks above a village where the narrator, a facetious clergyman, has arranged a tea outing for his fiancee Emily and her mother. The narrator admits he has been a fool, taking himself in with straight talks to his lads and lectures on earthworks that turn out to be Saxon. The Faun's appearance exposes the gap between the narrator's performed seriousness and the animal spirits he has suppressed, threatening the engagement and the self he has constructed.

## In the story

### [The Curate's Friend](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_13_se/chapters/the-curate-s-friend)

The supernatural being who appears to the curate on the downs, guiding him toward authenticity and joy.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_13_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned indirectly through the fantastical characters the boy encounters, though not directly present in this chapter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_13_se/characters/the_faun
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_13_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_13_se/characters