Prologue Summary

In 1952, in Pusan, South Korea, an unidentified male in a Navy peacoat seeks out an old herbalist. He asks the herbalist if there is a kind of poison that can be administered to a rat, that would kill the rat instantly, making sure the other rats are unaware anything has happened. The herbalist suggest arsenic, but the unidentified Navy male wants something quicker, stronger, and without side effects. The herbalist then kills a dog with another unknown poison, killing the dog instantly. He gives the man the poison, who gives the herbalist penicillin in exchange.

Prologue Analysis

The stage is set for the novel with the appearance of a Navy seaman who obtains a vial of lethal poison while stationed in Korea. Readers who are aware with Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the understanding that "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" is an American retelling of...