The Beast in the Jungle tells a love tragedy： The two young English people--John Marcher and May Bartram encounters in London after they first met in Italy ten years ago.Marcher has always had a feeling that one day an awful destiny will fall on him，just as he is to be attacked by a beast crouching in the jungle.So he requests May to watch with him.Out of love，May promises to wait for the appearance of the beast with Marcher.Many years have passed，but nothing happens.However，May grows old and dies of disease.Two years later，an incident that takes place in May’s cemetery makes Marcher realizes that the awful end he has been waiting for with fear all his life is the fact that he misses May’s love.He is finally aware that the only way to extricate him is to love her； only by this means can he get rid of the spiritual void and live a meaningful life.
　　Suffering from selfishness
　　Marcher is materially rich，for he possesses “his little office under government”，“his modest patrimony”，“his library” and “his garden in the country”（1311）.However，he is not satisfied mentally.“What it had come to was that he wore a mask painted with the social simper，out of the eye-holes of which there looked eyes of an expression not in the least matching the other feature.”（1320）He despises the world that is blinded by greed and is always reminding himself not to be selfish.“He valued this character quite sufficiently to measure his present danger of letting it lapse，against which he promised himself to be much on his guard.”（1356）So he is always thinking about others，never disturbing them with his annoyance.When he has intercourse with Bartram，he shows great care towards her.He would occasionally take her to the theatre and never forgets to make a delicate present on her birthday.
　　In fact，everything Marcher does for May embody the selfish side of his being.He thinks his care and attendance for May is sort of supplement for her promise to watch with him.He just wants to get even with her.“I sometimes ask myself if it’s quite fair.”（1364）Nevertheless，May is willing to watch with him，because she is deeply in love with him.She says “watching is always in itself an absorption.”（1364）However，Marcher never senses her love.The fact that he invites May to wait for the misfortune with him is totally out of his selfishness，for he is afraid of suffering the adversity alone.Moreover，Marcher is not willing to marry May，because he thinks “His conviction，his apprehension，his obsession，in short，wasn’t a privilege he could invite a woman to share” and “a man of feeling didn’t cause himself to be accompanied by a lady on a tiger-hunt.”（1289） 　　Marcher’s confession after his awakening is sincere.It finally lets him understand what life is all about.He misses May’s love because of his blind egotism.Marcher has been living in his fantasy world，waiting in vain for what is impossible to happen.His worst enemy is emptiness and what he really fears is life itself.So here comes the question of how to make our empty life meaningful and how to act against nihility.James perhaps offers us the answer： Love endows fuller meaning to our existence.Love helps us to escape emptiness.He tells us not to idle away our lives，but to cherish the people around us and live a full life.James also suggests us that we should not be frightened to the submission of our pain.On the contrary，we should courageously face reality and pursue our happiness.Since Marcher is always haunted by his thought that one day a beast is destined to slay him，he kills his time in endless speculation and anxiety，only to meet his miserable end desperately and lonely.
　　References：
　　[1]Henry James.The Beast in the Jungle.Kessinger Publishing.2010.
　　[2]林旭文.意义的焦虑——<丛林猛兽> 与<伤逝>之比较[J].海南大学学报.人文社会科学版.2010.4.97-100.
　　[3]谢泉铭.徐如麒.世界小说传世之作100篇[M].济南：山东文艺出版社.1992.
　　作者简介：尹贤，女，1986年9月，河北邢台人，首都师范大学英语语言文学专业在读硕士研究生，研究方向：英美文学方向。