“The Man In the Well” is a short story by Ira Sher about kids who discover a man trapped in a well. He asks for help but they tacitly agree that they’re not going to do anything to get him out. Despite this, they continue going back to the well to check on him, talk to him, and bring him some water and food. The narrator relates the story after many years have passed. Here’s a summary of “The Man in the Well”.
“The Man in the Well” Summary
The narrator recounts the time he found a man in a well when he was nine. He was out playing with other kids when he heard the man calling from the well. He’d been there for days and told the children to get a ladder and get help. They started walking for the nearest house but then stopped and went back. They came to a silent agreement that they wouldn’t help.
They go back to the lip of the well and ask the man some questions. He keeps urging them to get a rope or ladder and tell their parents. His voice is raw and he coughs as he talks. Wendy tells him the others have gone for help to get him to talk a bit. He says there’s no water.
Resting by the well, the narrator tries to picture the man in the well. After an hour the man calls out to them again. Not wanting to answer, the kids run off in panic.
The next morning the kids go back to the well with their snacks. Arthur brings a jug of water in a canvas bag. They sit a while and then Aaron calls to the man. The man asks if help is on the way. Arthur warns the man and then drops the bag of water down. The well doesn’t seem as deep as they thought, and they hear him moving below.
No one answers when he repeats his question. He asks their names. They don’t answer this either. Aaron says his father is coming with the police, and the other kids are impressed with this lie. They ask his name and other questions but he doesn’t answer.
It’s hot so the kids start leaving after a while. When only Wendy and the narrator remain the man asks about help coming again. Wendy accidentally uses Aaron’s name when she responds. When the man uses Aaron’s name they run off. They hear him shouting for a while, and the narrator thinks he might have said sorry.
The narrator thinks about the man during supper and at breakfast in the morning. His mother was crying about something last night.
Everyone gathers at the well in the morning. They put some food in a bag they snuck from home. The asks if help is coming. He uses Aaron’s name, and Aaron looks worried. They drop the bag of food down and hear him moving.
Wendy asks his name. He asks Aaron to guess his name. Wendy ventures some guesses. Aaron says Arthur, and then starts naming everyone else there as well. The man listens, seeming to understand what Aaron is doing.
The man in the well asks Arthur a question and then addresses a few others by name as well. Everyone is nervous and they don’t say anything.
The man goes quiet for a while. He starts moving around and asking everyone questions by name. when the narrator hears his name he wants to throw stones and dirt down the well to bury the voice. No one says or does anything.
In the evening, the man doesn’t say much. When the kids start to leave, he asks why they didn’t tell anyone. It was dark, so the kids didn’t have to see the looks on each other’s faces.
That night it rains and the narrator hears his mother sobbing downstairs. After that, the kids don’t play by the well anymore. The narrator will never go back.
I hope this summary of “The Man In the Well” by Ira Sher was helpful.
