# Uncle Reuben — Short Fiction character guide

> Uncle Reuben in Short Fiction by Selma Lagerlöf.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Reuben, Little Reuben, Poor Uncle Reuben

**First appearance:** 0017-uncle-reuben

## Snapshot

A dead uncle who perished at eight riding a stone railing, and who now haunts every child in the family as a cautionary tale and a tyrant.

## Who they are

Uncle Reuben died wherever he chose, always the same age as the child whose peace he wished to disturb, and every cousin is expected to show him respect. Axel hates him for threatening to take his mother's attention, and the other children secretly hate him too, until Axel's one brave question breaks the dam of their indignation. He is the family's shared grievance and its shared joke, the dead boy whose legend shapes how the living behave.

## In the story

### [Uncle Reuben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_50_se/chapters/uncle-reuben)

The central figure of the chapter; a three-year-old boy who died after sitting on cold stone steps, later becoming a legendary family symbol.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_50_se/characters/uncle_reuben
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_50_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_50_se/characters