# The Narrator (The Apple-Tree Table) — Short Fiction character guide

> The Narrator (The Apple-Tree Table) in Short Fiction by Herman Melville.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Unknown, the man, this man

**First appearance:** 0027-the-apple-tree-table

## Snapshot

A skeptical householder who pries open a haunted garret, drags down a cloven-footed old table, and finds his rational composure tested by what hatches from it.

## Who they are

He is a man of wry, self-aware reason, fond of his old house, his two daughters, and his own unshakable good sense. When the apple-wood table begins ticking and a strange insect emerges, his daughters and the hired girl read it as spiritual visitation while he insists on natural causes. His struggle to hold the line between credulity and wonder gives the story its comic and metaphysical charge.

## In the story

### [The Apple-Tree Table](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/the-apple-tree-table)

The narrator discovers the table in the garret, brings it home, and becomes fascinated by its mysterious ticking.

### [The Apple-Tree Table](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/the-apple-tree-table)

The narrator's wife, who initially supports the table and later proposes practical solutions like roach powder and cutting into the wood.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/the_narrator_apple_tree
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters