The Beast in the Jungle (Annotated - Includes Essay and Biography)

The Beast in the Jungle is the story of John Marcher, the protagonist, and May Bartram, a woman he has known in the past. They meet at a luncheon and May remembers that John had been tormented in the past by the idea that he would meet a catastrophic end what this will be he does not know, but he refers to it as the beast in the jungle, metaphorically lying in wait to destroy his life.