# Chester Deming — Short Fiction character guide

> Chester Deming in Short Fiction by Clark Ashton Smith.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Deming

**First appearance:** 0000-the-malay-krise

## Snapshot

A castaway on an alien world who meets horror with cracked-voiced gallantry and a grim joke.

## Who they are

Deming is one of the mutineers marooned on a strange planet, staggering beside Roverton across a reeking, rubbery plain after their escape from a carnivorous jungle. Even parched, half-conscious, and stripped of everything familiar, he asks what the next number on the program is — a wry defiance that keeps the pair moving. His stubborn humor against an environment that devours men gives the survival narrative its human counterweight to the alien sublime.

## Relationships

### [James Roverton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/james_roverton)

_professional_

Chester Deming is a business partner or colleague of James Roverton, involved in trade negotiations.

### [Herbert Albert Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/herbert_albert_adams)

_professional_

Chester Deming and Herbert Albert Adams are colleagues in the same trading company, with Deming as senior partner.

### [James Roverton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/james_roverton)

_professional_

Chester Deming is a business partner or colleague of James Roverton, involved in trade negotiations.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/i)

A young mutineer, marooned alongside Adams and Roverton.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/ii)

One of the mutineers; comments on the alien pitcher-plant and shows cautious curiosity.

### [Marooned!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/marooned)

One of the marooned men, he sits on a boulder-like mass and comments on the star Delta Andromedae.

### [A Strange Land](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/a-strange-land)

Comments on the pitcher-plant-like nature of the boulder-forms and compares the insect creatures to flies.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/iii)

Expresses unease, wondering if the pygmies will eat them or elect them as deities.

### [A Conference](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/a-conference)

Expresses unease, wondering if the pygmies will eat them or elect them as deities.

### [IV The Brink of Doom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/iv)

Complains about the foul smell, follows the group through the cavern and the escape.

### [The Brink of Doom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/the-brink-of-doom)

Complains about the foul smell, comparing it to Gorgonzola and fox-guts.

### [Into the Pouch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/v)

Captured alongside Adams and Roverton; survives the plant jungle and is flung unconscious onto the plain.

### [Into the Pouch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/into-the-pouch)

Seized by the bird and deposited in the pouch; also knocked senseless during the creature's convulsion.

### [A New Horror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/a-new-horror)

Survives the plant attack alongside Roverton and is also flung unconscious onto the plain.

### [VI: The Great Plain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/vi-the-great-plain)

Revived by Roverton; accompanies him in exploring the plain and the ruins.

### [Volmar Again!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/vii-volmar-again)

Stung by a giant insect; suffers a swollen hand but survives the attack.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/chester_deming
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters