--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: table. He could not help seeing the dead…" description: "\"“table. He could not help seeing the dead thing. How still it was! How horribly white the long hands looked! It was like a dreadful wax image.”\" — Osca..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/oscar-wilde-16_quote_table-he-could-not-help-seeing-the-dead_2021724.jpg" --- # table. He could not help seeing the dead thing. How still… ![“table. He could not help seeing the dead thing. How still it was! How horribly white the long hands looked! It was like a dreadful wax image.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/oscar-wilde-16_quote_table-he-could-not-help-seeing-the-dead_2021724.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/oscar-wilde-16_quote_table-he-could-not-help-seeing-the-dead_2021724.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/oscar-wilde-16_quote_table-he-could-not-help-seeing-the-dead_2021724.jpg) > ““table. He could not help seeing the dead thing. How still it was! How horribly white the long hands looked! It was like a dreadful wax image.”” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator is horrified by a lifeless, pale figure, emphasizing the uncanny and dread of death. **In simple terms:** A dead, white figure feels terrifying. Key Takeaway Recognize fear in confronting mortality. Themes death fear the uncanny Mood melancholic eerie Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - Gothic literature analysis - art critique - psychological study Key Concepts Mortality existential dread visual horror Questions to Reflect On - What does the whiteness symbolize? - How does fear shape our perception of death? A Different Perspective Some may find beauty in decay. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreadful Wax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreadful-wax-3665521/) [Hands Looked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-looked-744408/) [Horribly White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horribly-white-3665522/) [Seeing Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-dead-2307793/) [Thing Horribly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-horribly-3665523/) ## Related quotes > [It's not that I think every late 19th-century man with a beard who saw something shimmering in front of him was actually seeing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robinson/it-s-not-that-i-think-every-late-19th-century-man-with-a-beard-who/) [Tony Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robinson/) > [There is that idea of seeming crazy when you're seeing spirits or you're seeing dead people, you know what I mean? 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It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. 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For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Hands Looked quotes > [“He raised himself on his hands and looked at Irene's face: the nudity of that feminine body had risen into her face, the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/he-raised-himself-on-his-hands-and-looked-at-irene-s-face-the-nudity/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [When I started, every trade field, every job that required working with your hands, was looked down upon, at least in Europe, because if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amaury-guichon/when-i-started-every-trade-field-every-job-that-required-working-with/) [Amaury Guichon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amaury-guichon/) > [“Cupping his face in her hands, she looked into eyes that had seen thousands of sunrises before she was even a glimmer in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/cupping-his-face-in-her-hands-she-looked-into-eyes-that-had-seen/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [It was a gift, something you can't teach. His hands looked like they were born to have a golf club in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-strange/it-was-a-gift-something-you-can-t-teach-his-hands-looked-like-they/) [Curtis Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-strange/) > [“He framed her face with his calloused hands and looked down at her. His beautiful blue eyes searched her face and all her fears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamara-hoffa/he-framed-her-face-with-his-calloused-hands-and-looked-down-at-her/) [Tamara Hoffa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamara-hoffa/) > [“She slammed her right fist into her left palm. A thick blinding ray of light shot out from between her hands. It looked like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-orlowski-peart/she-slammed-her-right-fist-into-her-left-palm-a-thick-blinding-ray-of/) [Angela Orlowski-Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-orlowski-peart/) > [“He cupped my face in his hands and looked me hard in the eyes. "I was nothing. A shell of a man. 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