30 pages • 1 hour read
Henry Sydnor HarrisonMiss Hinch
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1911A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Subway
New York’s subway system began running in 1904, only seven years prior to the story’s publication. Anchoring its setting in the underground trains adds a layer of suspense and fear. The story personifies the train as a beast that enters it by “thundering in” (559). The train also mirrors the inescapable trajectory of the confrontation between the two main characters. The setting underscores their mutual suspicion and the sense of careening toward confrontation, as well as heightening tensions due to the risk of both death and flight. As the pair engages in initial conversation, the background seen through the windows shows “the dark flying walls” (561). Their final encounter takes place as they return to the platform. Miss Hinch’s leading Dark down the stairs underscores the battle of good and evil as she leads her to the subterranean spot where she will arrange the detective’s death. The menacing train becomes a beast as it roars toward and kills Dark.
The Newspaper
The newspaper is a central motif of the story. It initially draws the two women together and highlights their distance from traditional gender roles. Dark finds freedom and mobility through her work for the papers as a heroine of journalism who uses her grit and cunning to track down female criminals. She sells papers by tracking down other women, work that supports the theme of paranoia and suspicion. The newspaper creates the narrative mood, as the passengers in the car are all well-versed in the subject of the murder and Miss Hinch’s escape. Each person has their own perspectives and connections to add to the case, based on its continual press coverage as newspapers compete against each other by publishing new angles. The passengers are all on the lookout for the killer; even the train conductor scours the train for possible suspects.
The newspaper supports the theme of Good Versus Evil as well. The newspaper acts as a call to arms. It makes Miss Hinch infamous, calling attention to her crime, limiting her ability to hide, and describing her distinct characteristics. Its readers, represented by the train passengers, condemn the treacherous Hinch and champion the victory of Dark, who uses the newspaper in her fight against the evil Miss Hinch. She refuses to quit hunting for the killer, even when it seems the police have given up. Even in the throes of the hunt, she uses the newspaper to communicate with the authorities. In the end, the newspaper advocates for her by publishing her heroism, casting her as a superhero who triumphed over her prey, even in death.
The Disguise
Both Dark and Miss Hinch use costuming to subvert gender roles and move more freely through society. The two women would normally have to move with a male chaperone through the streets of New York City at midnight, but their disguises as a respectable domestic servant and an elderly clergyman allow them to pass unchecked through the night. They become bound to one another as they seek to discover the other’s identity. Miss Hinch loosens her costume in a desperate attempt to escape Dark. Upon failing, she draws the costume closer around her as she resigns herself to the murder she must commit. Dark’s disguise is revealed, leading to her death and demise, but an element of it unveils the clergyman as Miss Hinch. Both characters meet their doom as soon as they are unmasked.
Harrison uses disguises to heighten the sense of paranoia throughout the story. Miss Hinch’s ability to disguise herself allows the train passengers—and the reader—to imagine her anywhere. Though they voice different sides of the suspicion, the train conductor and the young gentleman report the impact of the city’s paranoia. Miss Hinch’s skill with hiding her identity exhausts the police. Dialogue between the restaurant staff and the police reveals many false sightings of Miss Hinch, which frustrate the police and consume their resources; this assists the real murderer in evading them. The characters’ disguises sow doubt and mistrust in the populace that is working toward a common goal of catching the killer. The disguise is both a symbol of freedom and a means of confusion.
