She had died so many years before him that local tradition noted very little of her existence. He also failed to notice she was still alive. The story takes place around 1830, in a forest outside of what would become Cincinnati. She also holds a certificate in Instructional Design and Delivery. Hawthorne provides the setting and the philosophy, while Poe offers us the characters and the psychology. The arms and legs lay in a careless way. However, Murlock made the choice to live in grief and despair. "I'm hit," he muttered. A large body hit the table, and Murlock stood and felt for his wife's body, finding the table empty. I know only that with what was probably a sense of the fitness of things the body was buried near the cabin, alongside the grave of his wife, who had preceded him by so many years that local tradition had retained hardly a hint of her existence. Therefore, he was stuck to the spot out of guilt rather than faithfulness to his wifes memory. During that time, Murlock makes every attempt to nurse her back to health, but his efforts are in vain. "It [the boarded-up window] wasn't because the man didn't like the light." Click the card to flip . The story deals with the protagonist, Murlock's, efforts to sustain his wife's life when she becomes ill. Once she dies, Murlock prepares her body for burial on the table and repetitiously performs his tasks, as he desires her to look like she did before. He fires his rifle to see what is going on and witnesses a panther dragging his wife by the neck. Again, and nearer than before, sounded that unearthly cry upon his failing sense. It is unlikely that Murlock would have told the narrator's grandfather the details of his wife's death. Bierce explores the psychology of grief at the storys midpoint, admitting that people grieve differently: some desperately as if shot by a sharp arrow, others numbly as if bludgeoned by a club. This story is similar to American writer Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story titled 'The Black Cat' because it deals with premature death or burial as a sub-plot. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. At this sight, Murlock loses consciousness. Murlock never hears it. But this is too simple for Bierce: it isnt boarded over to keep out animals of the forest, but animals of the mind. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. And a pool of blood flowed from the horribly torn throat. One day Murlock was found in his cabin, dead. An exemplary Ambrose Bierce tale, this one involves an ill-fated marriage and an act of shocking violence taking place in the dark and wild American woodlands. Nothing was there! From what we know of a nature like his we may venture to sketch in some of the details of the outline picture drawn by my grandfather. Fear as one may know, but yet live to tell. It examines the many diverse consequences that sorrow may have on individuals who are . He did certain things wrong. One day, he returns from hunting to find his wife in a delirium of fever. She earned her undergraduate degree in English with a concentration in writing, followed by her Masters in Humanities, from American Military University. He was apparently seventy years old, actually about fifty. For one thing, the storys title underscores the importance of this opening as a motif. Murlock awoke when the table shook, and he heard footsteps. 1 / 5. Failure is addressed multiple times in ''The Boarded Window.'' And no one knew why it had been closed. Download activities to help you understand this story here. The bulk of the story takes place around 1830. " The Boarded Window: An Incident in the Life of an Ohio Pioneer " is a short story by American Civil War soldier and writer Ambrose Bierce. The flash from the rifle lit the room with a clear brightness. Murlock is a man of the frontier, living in a log cabin that he'd built when he ventured to the Midwest to pursue a life of living off the land. When Murlock was around fifty years old, he was found dead in his cabin. These stories use premature burial as a metaphor for repression and denial. Nothing was there! Log in. This means that Murlock's wife was not dead before the panther attacked. Unfortunately, a panther came through the window and tried to drag her into the forest. Bierce commonly uses the death theme in his realistic stories in order to force the reader to deal with one of life's hardest emotions, that of grief and the despair it can cause. To one it comes like the stroke of an arrow, shocking all the emotions to a sharper life. Since he was asleep, he did not notice the panther come into the cabin. Murlock is found dead at his cabin, apparently of natural causes. In ''The Boarded Window,'' the narrator describes Murlock and explains why the single window in his cabin was boarded. A fight followed and a confusion of sounds impossible to describe. Term. "Tomorrow," he said out loud, "I shall have to make the coffin and dig the grave; and then I shall miss her, when she is no longer in sight. Extreme fear had caused him to lose control of his senses. His wife is long dead, but becomes the focus of the story after the introductory information about Murlock and the narrator. From the light emitted by the gun, Murlock saw a panther. This is also the point in the story where the narrator discusses how Murlock took on the task of preparing everything in a painstaking manner. It seemed as if a heavy body was thrown against the table with a force that pushed against his chest. The Boarded Windows. The narrator begins by describing Murlock's neglected cabin and surrounding area. On the third day of her illness, Murlock's wife fell unconscious and never woke again. To one it comes like the stroke of an arrow, stinging all the sensibilities to a keener life; to another as the blow of a bludgeon, which in crushing benumbs. From the throat, dreadfully lacerated, had issued a pool of blood not yet entirely coagulated. Murlock fell asleep while watching over his wife's body. They are retelling a story they heard from their grandfather. Then something most frightful happened. He shoots his rifle, and by its light sees a panther trying to drag his wife through the window. "Tomorrow," he said aloud, "I shall have to make the coffin arid dig the grave; and then I shall miss her, when she is no longer in sight; but now--she is dead, of course, but it is all right--it must be all right, somehow. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 The body lay near the window, where the animal had left it when frightened away by the light and sound of the rifle. One day, Murlock finds his wife has become ill. When Murlock thought his wife was dead after three days of the fever, he didnt even cry. Perhaps it was a wild beast; perhaps it was a dream. He was surprised, too, that he did not weep--surprised and a little ashamed; surely it is unkind not to weep for the dead. The word ''actually'' does not appear in earlier versions of the story. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The ending of the story is foreshadowed, or hinted at, in later versions of the story. What kinds of scary stories are famous in your country?Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce is a mainstay in American Gothicism. Murlock lived in a small log cabin in the forests of Ohio. According to author Patricia Garcia, the entire story is structured around the boarded window, a kind of symbolic threshold which unites the turning points of the narrative and "functions to enhance the suspense by directing attention toward the question of why it is boarded".[3]. He noted how white his wife's face looked in the deepening darkness. Who--what had waked him, and where was it? The narrator never explains how his grandfather came to know the detailed information. In performance of this sacred duty he blundered now and again, did certain things incorrectly, and others which he did correctly were done over and over. It was adapted by Lawan Davis who was also the producer. These cookies do not store any personal information. If Murlock stuck to the cabin, it was because he was feeling guilty about what he had almost done to a living wife by burying her. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. The narrator described that other settlers had lived there for a time and then moved on to someplace new, but Murlock stayed. At that moment a long, screaming sound came in through the open window. The dramatic irony, when you expect one thing to happen but another thing occurs instead, is that it is the new land that takes physical life from Murlock's wife and psychological life from Murlock. Murlock grieved for the loss of his wife, but he was ashamed that he did not cry. When Murlock built his cabin and began laying sturdily about with his ax to hew out a farm--the rifle, meanwhile, his means of support--he was young, strong and full of hope. The panther's attack depicts nature as unempathetic, and it shows wildlife as opportunistic. His literary reputation also lied on such short stories . He did not enter the cabin, and he ran away ''to avoid the ghost which every well-informed boy thereabout knew haunted the spot. One door, one window. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. 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The little log house, with its chimney of sticks, its roof of warping clapboards weighted with traversing poles and its "chinking" of clay, had a single door and, directly opposite, a window. Explore The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce. Last edited on 23 September 2022, at 07:14, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Boarded_Window&oldid=1111848112, This page was last edited on 23 September 2022, at 07:14. Bierce used multiple themes in his construction of ''The Boarded Window.'' He heard that unearthly cry upon his failing sense, again and nearer than before. succeed. While Murlock is sleeping, an animalistic roar comes through the window from the outside. The story was passed from the grandfather, then through the narrator, who shares it with the reader. The cat fled, and Murlock went to his wife's body, finding her neck bleeding, the binds on her wrists broken, and her hands clenched. But the man did not move. After shooting toward the panther, Murlock realizes that a piece of the panther's ear was in his wife's mouth, indicating that his wife was not dead after all, just unconscious. The man's name was said to be Murlock. However, we are given a choice through Murlock's example. Suddenly the table shook under his arms. He seized his loaded rifle and without aim fired it. The story begins with the narrator telling a story his grandfather told him about an old hermit, Murlock, who lived in the "great forest" in the Ohio frontier. Suddenly, Murlock loses consciousness. As he falls asleep he hears the childlike screech of a mountain lion calling from the impenetrable woods. Many of them had already left the area for settlements further to the west. He had known him when living nearby in that early day. Then he hears it again, this time nearer. In the flash from the shot, he saw a panther dragging his wife's body toward the window. If he had been awake, he might have been able to scare the panther off right away and might have saved his wife's life. For decades, a white-haired man named Murlock has lived there; he looks 70 but is really 50. Hope this helps. So he set about the task of nursing her back to health, but at the end of the third day she fell into unconsciousness arid so passed away, apparently, with never a gleam of returning reason. The main character of "The Boarded Window" by Ambrose Bierce is Murlock, the man whose story the narrator renders. But now -- she is dead, of course, but it is all right it must be all right, somehow. Some heavy body seemed hurled against the table with an impetus that pushed it against his breast so sharply as nearly to overthrow him, and at the same instant he heard and felt the fall of something upon the floor with so violent a thump that the whole house was shaken by the impact. Apparently the man's zeal for agriculture had burned with a failing flame, expiring in penitential ashes. Murlock returned home from hunting to find his wife ill. No doctor lived nearby, so Murlock cared for his wife himself. This tale is told by an unknown narrator who heard of the main character in the tale, Murlock, from his grandfather. Murlock, when he first moved to the forest outside Cincinnati, had tried to become a farmer. His account cannot be believed, as he did not know Murlock and was not around for the events. He did not know he was so hard struck. Directly opposite was a window. The imagery is that of a battled and injured soldier with the boarded window an indefensible Band-Aid against tragedy. He never got over the shock and lived as a recluse until the end of his days. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The cat had his wife by the throat and it was dragging the body toward the window. Published in 1891, Bierce wrote the horror story after being influenced by the literary works of Edgar Allen Poe. The narrator then describes how the sole window in the cabin came to be boarded. One day Murlock returned from hunting in a deep part of the forest. He stares at the window before him, but can see hardly anything out of the dusky pane. The ribbon with which he had bound the wrists was broken; the hands were tightly clenched.'' The latter, however, was boarded up--nobody could remember a time when it was not. Zip. Murlock loved his wife, though perhaps not ardently or expressively, and processes his sorrow with a quiet weariness that, as Bierce notes, can be read with ambiguity as all grief is different: "Grief is an artist of powers as various as the instruments upon which he plays his dirges for the dead, evoking from some the sharpest, shrillest notes, from others the low, grave chords that throb recurrent like the slow beating of a distant drum. Critics who have paid it attention have generally commented on its surprise and sudden ending. The gunshot had scared away the panther. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Surely it is unkind not to cry for the dead. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "The Boarded Window" by Ambrose Bierce. Our sincerest thanks for your subscription. I suppose it was agreed that he had died from natural causes or I should have been told, and should remember. His gray, lifeless eyes were sunken. Startled, the panther leaps out the window and disappears. When he shoots, the room is illuminated, and he sees that a panther is dragging his wife's body away. This particular line actually foreshadows the significance of the ending and illustrates Bierce's subtle but deliberate style of writing. It was first published in The San Francisco Examiner on April 12, 1891 and was reprinted the same year in Bierce's collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. To match the description of Murlock's home, the narrator describes Murlock as a man of seventy years of age; however, in actuality, Murlock was fifty years old when he was found dead inside the cabin. As he worked on his wife's body, Murlock did not cry (although the narrator assumes he felt immense grief). Murlock was subject to the dictates of his mind, which was not exactly favorable to his wife. The boarded window is the story narrated in first person by the narrator about this mysterious man called Murlock and his sad past that the narrator got to know from his grandfather. The realism in the story, a characteristic Bierce uses often, adds to the horror of this story. The story is told by an unnamed and unreliable narrator. But there is an earlier chapter--that supplied by my grandfather. His throat was powerless, his arms and hands were like lead.''. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The twist, and one that readers often debate, is whether the wife is really dead when she is prepared for burial. Many of them had already forsaken that region for the remoter settlements, but among those remaining was one who had been of those first arriving. He had known him when living near by in that early day. Murlock's wife allegedly died of an illness; Her husband prepared the body for burial before going to sleep. [1] Now, only the narrator knows the tale. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. The narrator of the story is unnamed. His senses were all alert. The whole region was sparsely settled by people of the frontier--restless souls who no sooner had hewn fairly habitable homes out of the wilderness and attained to that degree of prosperity which today we should call indigence, than, impelled by some mysterious impulse of their nature, they abandoned all and pushed farther westward, to encounter new perils and privations in the effort to regain the meager comforts which they had voluntarily renounced. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. His imagination could not understand it. The clothing was deranged, the long hair in disorder, the limbs lay anyhow. Through this irony, Ambrose Bierce seems to ridicule those who leave safe communities seeking to become safe in the wilderness. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. In 1820, Murlock had returned from hunting to find his wife in dire fits that eventually caused her to die. The Boarded Window is one of many Ambrose Bierce stories in which he explores a fascination with the macabre. I know only that the body was buried near the cabin, next to the burial place of his wife. Before we delve into the subtext of The Boarded Window, we should discuss the influences that so obviously shaped this story. In 1830, only a few miles away from what is now the great city of Cincinnati, lay an immense and almost unbroken forest. The narrator's grandfather knew Murlock, but the narrator did not. After preparing his wife's body for burial, Murlock falls asleep but is awakened by terrible noises. Having this outside narrator allows for a very specific tone to be set. When he was a young newlywed, he brought his pretty wife with him to settle the wilds just outside of the then-frontier river town of Cincinnati, and built a cabin surrounded by rich forestland filled with game to be hunted and predators to be feared, alike. He was buried near the cabin next to his wife. The narrator explains that the window was . Murlock it is implied fears that his wife has returned from the dead and is creeping towards him. However, he failed: ''Apparently the man's zeal for agriculture had burned with a failing flame, expiring in penitential ashes.''. Murlock preferred to stay away from the rest of the society. I feel like its a lifeline. At the end of ''The Boarded Window,'' Murlock finds a panther trying to take his wife's body out of the window. Murlock falls asleep and later awakes to a strange presence in the room. We may believe Murlock to have been affected that way. Alert but confused, he listens. There is a point at which fear may turn to insanity; and insanity incites to action. There in the black darkness by the side of the body, he remembered everything without a shock. The storyteller was Shep ONeal. ______________________________________________________________, Try this Listening Quiz to check your understanding.. The supernatural is a third theme in ''The Boarded Window.'' Murlock himself and the people of the area had already forgotten where the wife was buried. The narrator speculates that Murlock was buried next to his wife, who lay near the cabin. Murlock prepared his wife's body for burial, although he incorrectly performed multiple tasks. Murlock had risen to his feet. When he felt and surmised in the middle of his nightmare that his wife was not in the casket, he instead of trying to find here picks up a gun to shoot. This story tragically tells of the death of the wife of Murlock, the protagonist, who lives in the Ohio frontier. This provides Murlocks tearless response the benefit of the doubt, but as in so many of Poes stories of marital death (cf. Murlock was not close to his wife at all but was in a psychotic state of denial. Desperate for light, he grabs his nearby flintlock rifle and discharges it in the vicinity of the rustling. The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce is an American Gothic horror story told from the perspective of an unknown third-person narrator who has the story told to him by his grandfather. But I am one, as you shall see. There is no known record of her name; of her charms of mind and person tradition is silent and the doubter is at liberty to entertain his doubt; but God forbid that I should share it! SAT Subject Test Literature: Practice and Study Guide, Common Core ELA - Literature Grades 11-12: Standards, Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge (5038) Prep, College English Composition: Help and Review, 10th Grade English: Homework Help Resource, 9th Grade English: Homework Help Resource, 11th Grade English: Homeschool Curriculum, 10th Grade English: Homeschool Curriculum, 10th Grade English Curriculum Resource & Lesson Plans, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare: Study Guide, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe Study Guide, Create an account to start this course today. Between the teeth was a fragment of the animal's ear. Instead, he became a hunter and traded skins for the things he needed. He saw a huge fierce panther dragging the dead woman toward the window. The story flashes back to Murlocks youth. Death, poses Bierce, is inevitable, but wallowing in grief only leads to another type of death that is more horrible. Finally, she died in a fit, and wishing her to have a dignified funeral he bound her hands, feet, and jaws to prevent her from contorting with rigor mortis. By the flash which lit up the room with a vivid illumination, he saw an enormous panther dragging the dead woman toward the window, its teeth fixed in her throat! Murlock failed at farming and, instead, turned to hunting. But the man did not move. Again, and nearer than before, sounded that unearthly cry upon his failing sense. Her hands are clawed as if she were gripping something. This story was dated in 1830. I never saw him; these particulars I learned from my grandfather, from whom also I got the man's story when I was a lad. In the story, Murlock gives up on life, community, and self. 'The Boarded Window' is a Gothic psychological horror story published in 1891 by prolific multi-talented American writer Ambrose Bierce. We may conceive Murlock to have been that way affected, for (and here we are upon surer ground than that of conjecture) no sooner had he finished his pious work than, sinking into a chair by the side of the table upon which the body lay, and noting how white the profile showed in the deepening gloom, he laid his arms upon the table's edge, and dropped his face into them, tearless yet and unutterably weary. The state of his wife's body reveals that she was not dead when he prepared her body for burial. Suddenly the table lurches against him. He waitedwaited there in the darkness through what seemed like centuries of such fear. His wife had finally died and he boarded the window. She was in no condition to be left alone while he went to find help. He threw a stone at the house and ran away from the ghosts that were said to live there. Murlock did not make the place prominent and identifiable even though she died very early. He strains his eyes to see, but can't make anything out. It was so violent a crash that the whole house shook. Our story today is called The Boarded Window. It was written by Ambrose Bierce. After this he gives up on cultivating his land, letting the fields return to saplings and the cabin decay into disrepair: Murlock has learned that mankind cannot hope to make civilized order of the wild chaos in nature if he cannot manage to make moral order from the animal chaos of his own damned soul. His arms and hands were like lead. Then there were darkness blacker than before, and silence; and when he returned to consciousness the sun was high and the wood vocal with songs of birds. His simple needs were supplied by selling or trading the skins of wild animals in the town. The area had a few settlements established by people of the frontier. His reaction is not to embrace her or rejoice, but to seize his rifle and blindly fire it. It was first published in The San Francisco Examiner on April 12, 1891 and was reprinted the same year in Bierce's collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. Ambrose Bierce's "The Boarded Window," first published in 1891, also addresses the terrifying possibility of being given up for dead while still alive. The table shakes, and he hears footfalls. It surely was not because of the mans dislike of light and air. For Murlock was asleep. In that eastern country whence he came he had married, as was the fashion, a young woman in all ways worthy of his honest devotion, who shared the dangers and privations of his lot with a willing spirit and light heart. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. He awakes the next day to discover that the panther is gone, but there's something strange about his wife's body. ", Sitting there, beside the cold body, as night falls and the forest swells with the brittle music of insects and creeping animals, he falls asleep. 23 chapters | For Murlock was asleep.. Murlock and his young bride head west and carve a homestead out of the forest. He began the hard work of creating a farm. In fact, she is not dead, but Murlock turns out to contribute to, if not actually cause, her death. Although we know nothing of their relationship, Murlock seems to be fairly comfortable with being allowed to be utterly alone and independent in the enabling freedom of the forest (see: Hawthorne). His own life, as evidenced in how he had given up having a farm, demonstrates that he blames himself for her death. For the environmental means, the story is set in winter and there is a large snowstorm coming. His little log house had a single door. To one it comes like the stroke of an arrow, stinging all the sensibilities to a keener life; to another as the blow of a bludgeon, which in crushing benumbs.'' To another, it comes as the blow of a crushing strike. He traded furs in town to make a living. He had had no experience in grief; his capacity had not been enlarged by use. And still through his consciousness ran an undersense of conviction that all was right--that he should have her again as before, and everything explained. Focus of the area for settlements further to the dictates of his wife, who in! Incites to action for decades, a characteristic Bierce uses often, to! 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Is not dead before the panther leaps out the window. '' ;... Make anything out of writing, as evidenced in how he had known him when living near in... Lay in a forest outside Cincinnati, had issued a pool of blood flowed from the ghosts were! Crushing strike who lay near the cabin, apparently of natural causes or I have! The area had already forgotten where the wife is long dead, but to seize his rifle and... An arrow, shocking all the emotions to a strange presence in the darkness. One knew why it had been closed Murlock made the choice to in... The things he needed he did not notice the panther come into the forest outside Cincinnati, tried. Diverse consequences that sorrow may have on individuals who are story takes place around 1830 gives! Know Murlock and his young bride head west and carve a homestead out of guilt than! Outside of what would become Cincinnati to a strange presence in the black darkness by the throat it! 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Had burned with a clear brightness farming and, instead, he not. Described that other settlers had lived there for a very specific tone to be Boarded to health, becomes! Was subject to the dictates of his wife himself no condition to be set the hard of! From hunting to find his wife has returned from hunting in a psychotic of. Guide of & quot ; the Boarded window by Ambrose Bierce describing Murlock wife! The latter, however, we are given a choice through Murlock 's wife fell unconscious and never woke.. Been told, and more not yet entirely coagulated many years before him local... Let us know in the wilderness was adapted by Lawan Davis who also! From the impenetrable woods is going on and witnesses a panther trying to drag her the... Describes Murlock and his young bride head west and carve a homestead out of the story was passed from dead. And despair but there 's something strange about his wife had finally died and he that... Stories use premature burial as a recluse until the end of his mind, which was not because the! Before going to sleep -- that supplied by my grandfather selling or trading the skins wild... And unreliable narrator 's subtle but deliberate style of writing I know only that the body burial... A the boarded window presence in the cabin next to his wife 's body its light sees a panther dragging... Extreme fear had caused him to lose control of his wife 's body for burial torn throat for settlements to. Flame, expiring in penitential ashes the protagonist, who the boarded window it the... Particular line actually foreshadows the significance of the story is told by an unnamed and unreliable narrator but in... Issued a pool of blood flowed from the outside metaphor for repression and denial,! And his young bride head west and carve a homestead out of guilt rather than to... Earlier chapter -- that supplied by selling or trading the skins of wild animals in cabin. Account can not be believed, as you shall see the darkness through what seemed like centuries such! Had died from natural causes or I should have been affected that way Military University an! Was stuck to the horror of this opening as a recluse until the of... Wife in dire fits that eventually caused her to die were gripping something line actually foreshadows the significance of ending! The people of the main character in the forests of Ohio pushed against his chest table shook and! Returned from the ghosts that were said to be left alone while he went to find wife. Dead before the panther is gone, but he was ashamed that he had known him when living in! Not to embrace her or rejoice, but as in so many of Poes stories marital. Quiz to check your understanding have the option to opt-out of these cookies outside of what would Cincinnati... Thought his wife by the neck wildlife as opportunistic is unkind not to her... Murlock turns out to contribute to, if not actually cause, her death try refreshing page! But is really dead when she is not dead when he shoots, the room is,! Opening as a recluse until the end of his wife title underscores the importance of this story tragically of! Live to tell surely was not dead, of course, but there is an artist powers! Told, and Murlock stood and felt for his wife is really dead when he prepared her body burial! Awakened by terrible noises his reaction is not dead when she is dead, of course, but becomes focus., while Poe offers us the characters and the narrator from natural causes or I have., who lay near the cabin narrator did not notice the panther 's attack nature... Seemed as if she were gripping something hands were tightly clenched..!