Black House
Chapter 2
by Straub, Stephen King and PeterThe chapter introduces two contrasting residents of Maxton’s Elder Care Facility: Alice Weathers and Charles Burnside. Alice, a beloved piano teacher, moved to Maxton’s reluctantly after a lifetime in French Landing, accepting the inevitability of aging with grace. She is surrounded by familiar faces, easing her transition. In stark contrast, Burnside, a tall, gaunt man with advanced Alzheimer’s, lies in his bed, unbothered by his own filth, his mind vacillating between emptiness and bizarre lucidity. His erratic behavior and unsettling demeanor set him apart from other residents, leaving staff questioning the authenticity of his condition.
Burnside’s unpredictable nature defies typical Alzheimer’s patterns. While he often sinks into incoherence, he occasionally resurfaces with a venomous vitality, hurling insults and prowling the grounds. His sporadic clarity fuels suspicions among staff that he may be feigning illness to manipulate his environment. Unlike other patients, Burnside exhibits prolonged remissions, alternating between zombie-like stupor and malicious alertness. This duality makes him a figure of resentment and unease, challenging the facility’s routines and the patience of those who care for him.
The chapter delves into Burnside’s mysterious arrival at Maxton’s in 1996. Found wandering near La Riviere General Hospital, he carried suitcases of dirty clothes and spewed incoherent rants. Despite his claims of an aunt in Blair, no records of her existence could be found, leaving him a ward of the county. His admission to Maxton’s was initially temporary, but a sudden check from a dubious “Althea Burnside” secured his permanent stay, much to Chipper’s financial delight. Burnside’s origins remain shrouded in ambiguity, adding to his enigmatic presence.
Over the next six years, Burnside’s decline into Alzheimer’s appeared irreversible, marked by incontinence, rage, and memory loss. Yet his occasional bursts of clarity and malevolence continued to unsettle staff and residents alike. The chapter paints him as a disturbing outlier, a man whose past is as murky as his present, and whose presence at Maxton’s is both a medical curiosity and a source of dread. His story contrasts sharply with Alice’s dignified twilight, highlighting the unpredictable nature of aging and mental decay.
FAQs
1. How does Alice Weathers’ background and personality contrast with Charles Burnside’s?
Answer:
Alice Weathers is portrayed as a beloved, community-oriented woman who spent her life in French Landing, raised five sons, and taught piano to generations of children. She moved to Maxton’s with reluctant acceptance, knowing it was her inevitable next step. In contrast, Charles Burnside is described as unpleasant, erratic, and possibly faking his Alzheimer’s symptoms. While Alice is remembered fondly, Burnside is rude, offensive, and manipulative. Their differences highlight the spectrum of elderly experiences—Alice represents dignity and warmth, whereas Burnside embodies chaos and deception.2. What evidence suggests that Charles Burnside might not truly have Alzheimer’s disease?
Answer:
Several details cast doubt on Burnside’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis: he experiences prolonged “remissions” where he regains coherence and engages in deliberately unpleasant behavior. Staff suspect he fakes symptoms to avoid responsibility or manipulate others. Unlike typical Alzheimer’s patients, he alternates between complete incoherence and sharp, offensive remarks. Additionally, his ability to sneak around, patrol the grounds, and target people with insults suggests cognitive control inconsistent with advanced dementia. His unpredictable behavior aligns more with manipulation than genuine neurological decline.3. How does the chapter use Burnside’s arrival at Maxton’s to critique bureaucratic systems?
Answer:
Burnside’s admission to Maxton’s reveals flaws in social services and medical bureaucracy. Despite lacking identification or verifiable history, he is classified as a ward of the county through minimal effort—highlighting how easily individuals can slip through systemic cracks. The social worker’s failed attempts to locate “Althea Burnside” underscore the inefficiency of record-keeping. Chipper’s sudden willingness to keep Burnside after receiving a mysterious payment further critiques how financial incentives, rather than patient needs, often dictate care decisions. The system’s inability to verify Burnside’s background or diagnose him accurately reflects institutional negligence.4. Analyze the significance of Chipper’s perspective on Burnside’s behavior.
Answer:
Chipper dismisses Burnside’s cruelty as typical of Maxton’s elderly men, framing it as mere stubbornness rather than something more sinister. This perspective minimizes Burnside’s disturbing traits, suggesting Chipper either ignores or enables problematic behavior for convenience. His labeling of Burnside as a “blood brother” to other residents implies a cynical view of aging, where unpleasantness is expected. Chipper’s focus on Burnside’s financial value—calling him his “favorite patient” after the mysterious payment—reveals his prioritization of profit over genuine care, reinforcing the facility’s morally ambiguous environment.5. How does the chapter create ambiguity around Burnside’s true nature?
Answer:
The chapter deliberately leaves Burnside’s reality unresolved. His Alzheimer’s could be real or feigned; his “remissions” defy medical norms. The sudden appearance of Althea’s payment—after she was initially untraceable—hints at hidden connections or deception. His vulgar outbursts (“jackass asswipe”) contrast with moments of eerie focus, suggesting either instability or calculated malice. By withholding clarity, the text builds tension: is Burnside a helpless victim of disease, a manipulative con artist, or something darker? This ambiguity makes him a unsettling, unpredictable presence.
Quotes
1. “Alice came to this place as most people do, in a car driven by one of her children and with a mixture of reluctance and surrender.”
This quote captures the universal experience of aging and the difficult transition to assisted living, illustrating Alice’s emotional conflict through the poignant phrase “reluctance and surrender.”
2. “Unlike Alice, Charles Burnside, the tall, skinny old man lying covered by a sheet before us in his metal bed, is not in full possession of his wits, nor is he dreaming of Fred Astaire.”
This stark contrast between Alice and Burnside establishes the chapter’s central dichotomy between dignified aging and disturbing deterioration, using vivid imagery to highlight their differences.
3. “If Burny has not been misdiagnosed, he is probably the only advanced Alzheimer’s patient in the world to experience prolonged spells of remission.”
This provocative statement introduces the mystery surrounding Burnside’s condition, suggesting there may be something unnatural or extraordinary about his apparent Alzheimer’s symptoms.
4. “Charles, it seemed, was one of those elusive people who go through life without ever paying taxes, registering to vote, applying for a Social Security card, opening a bank account, joining the armed forces, getting a driver’s license, or spending a couple of seasons at the state farm.”
This quote reveals Burnside’s mysterious background and raises questions about his true identity, emphasizing his ghost-like existence outside normal societal systems.
5. “Without putting Chipper through any of the usual shenanigans, Burny had doubled his contribution to the income stream.”
This cynical observation exposes the financial motivations behind elder care, showing how Burnside’s mysterious funding source makes him valuable to the facility despite his unpleasant nature.