The Night the Bed Fell Summary

The father decided to sleep in the attic.

"The old wooden bed up there was unsafe", due to its wobbliness and potential for injury.

Grandfather was temporarily gone for a few days; returning grumpy and with political complaints.

Briggs Beall was afraid of suffocating while sleeping.

Briggs kept camphor to revive himself if he ceased breathing.

The narrator and his family exhibited specific traits.

Ominous sounds were heard from the attic bed.

The narrator's sleep was tested when his cousin held his breath, testing the narrator's ability to wake.

A type of bed, made of metal, that is easily tipped over.

A person who sleeps very soundly and is hard to wake up.

The iron cot rolled over the person who was sleeping in it.

The mother thought the main floor bed fell on the father.

Briggs, believing he was suffocating, poured camphor on himself.

Briggs broke the window to escape what he thought was suffocation.

The person sleeping in the bed was not harmed when it fell on them.

The sleeper realized, in a vague way, they were under the bed, not on it.

Aunt Melissa believed she would die on South High Street because she was born and married there.

Aunt Sarah feared burglars and chloroform, so she kept valuables outside her bedroom.

Aunt Gracie believed burglars were entering her house regularly, but reported no theft.

Aunt Gracie would throw shoes down the hallway to scare off burglars at night.

The layout of the rooms and where family members slept was essential for the description of a later event.

The account describes the family's activities and room locations during the night of the episode, as well as the room layout.

Herman, the brother, sang 'Marching Through Georgia' or 'Onward Christian Soldiers' while sleeping.

Family members' actions and reactions to the description of the night's events provide background context.

The people present in the house during the night. Includes the narrator, Briggs, mother, Herman, Roy, father, and a dog (Rex).

The characters exhibit a sense of anxiousness and disorientation, especially at the start of the event, with a focus on getting out of a difficult situation.

The parents, narrator, Herman, and Briggs all express urgency and concern, shouting for help or reassurance, and searching for a solution.

The attic door is difficult to open, causing commotion.

Father is in a separate bedroom.

The family discovered the Father was safe after the false alarm.

The dog, Rex, reacted strangely and assumed that Briggs was the culprit.

Briggs, the narrator's cousin, was terrified of suffocating while sleeping. He believed he needed to be awakened hourly to avoid dying in his sleep.

The old wooden bed in the attic was deemed unsafe due to its instability and the heavy headboard, which could potentially fall on the sleeper.

This refers to the whole event of the night when the bed in the attic fell, causing a commotion and a false alarm throughout the house.

The father decided to sleep in the attic to find peace and solitude, despite his wife's concerns about the unsafe bed.

The family's dog reacted oddly to the commotion, particularly focusing on Briggs, suggesting a misunderstanding of the situation.

The family's worries about the father were proven to be false; it was the bed that had fallen, not the father.

The iron cot was designed with foldable sides, which, when raised, made it dangerously unstable. This design made the cot prone to tipping over, especially when someone rolled too close to the edge.

The mother, believing the heavy wooden bed had fallen on the father, reacted with immediate fear and concern. This was due to her prior worries about the attic bed's safety.

Awakened by the commotion, Briggs misunderstood the situation, thinking he was suffocating and that everyone was trying to rescue him. This led to his panicked actions.

Briggs, in his panic, poured the camphor intended for reviving him directly onto himself, creating a strong odor in the room.

Believing he was suffocating, Briggs broke the window to escape what he thought was a stuffy room, adding to the already chaotic situation.

The narrator, still under the fallen cot, slowly realized that they were not on the bed but under it, finally connecting the noise to the cot's fall.

The family's initial belief that the father was trapped under the bed was incorrect. This was a false alarm, as the actual issue was the fallen bed.

Briggs, the narrator's cousin, sleeps with camphor because he's terrified of suffocating while sleeping. He's convinced he needs to be awakened hourly.

The old wooden bed in the attic is deemed unsafe due to its potential for causing injury by falling.

The father, a deep sleeper, is initially oblivious to the chaos unfolding downstairs, only awakened by the loud banging on the attic door.

The family's dog, Rex, reacts oddly to the commotion, seemingly blaming Briggs for the chaos. This suggests an animal's confusion and misinterpretation of the situation.

The description of the house's layout establishes the setting and helps understand how each character's actions can impact the others, including the attic room and the different rooms where each person sleeps.

The entire night's events are driven by a series of mistaken assumptions and misinterpretations, causing a crescendo of fear and confusion.