# Max Kaplan — Short Fiction character guide

> Max Kaplan in Short Fiction by Charles Beaumont.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Kaplan

**First appearance:** 0000-the-beautiful-people

## Snapshot

Max Kaplan cannot stop thinking about the prisoner who insists the world is his dream, and he keeps pressing Ritchie to admit the clock is running out.

## Who they are

Kaplan is the friend who visited the condemned man's cell and came away shaken, and now he sits with Ritchie near midnight, arguing that a dream's pain is real enough to matter. He draws on his own childhood nightmare—his father's belt in the basement—to make the case that the prisoner will feel the electric chair as surely as if he were strapped into it. His persistence wears at Ritchie's professional calm, and his fear is what turns a legal curiosity into a countdown.

## Relationships

### [Henry Ritchie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/henry_ritchie)

_friendship_

Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their endeavors.

### [Beatty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/beatty)

_rivalry_

Beatty and Max Kaplan are antagonists, often in conflict or competition with each other.

### [Mrs. Cuberle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/mrs_cuberle)

_social_

Max Kaplan and Mrs. Cuberle are likely acquaintances, possibly through family or community ties.

### [Henry Ritchie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/henry_ritchie)

_friendship_

Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their endeavors.

### [Beatty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/beatty)

_rivalry_

Beatty and Max Kaplan are antagonists, often in conflict or competition with each other.

### [Henry Ritchie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/henry_ritchie)

_friendship_

Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their endeavors.

### [Mrs. Cuberle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/mrs_cuberle)

_social_

Max Kaplan and Mrs. Cuberle are likely acquaintances, possibly through family or community ties.

### [Mrs. Cuberle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/mrs_cuberle)

_social_

Max Kaplan and Mrs. Cuberle are likely acquaintances, possibly through family or community ties.

## In the story

### [Traumerei](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/chapters/traumerei)

Kaplan is deeply disturbed after visiting the condemned prisoner; he drinks heavily and presses Ritchie on the implications of the boy's dream-world theory.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters/max_kaplan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_8_se/characters