The frame story and the first-person narrative style establish the narrator of “The Invalid’s Story” as the protagonist, although Thompson provides most of the action and dialogue. Readers know little about the narrator beyond the information provided in the frame story—that he is a bachelor of 41 who has lost his health and is dying as a result of the strange story he has to tell. Much can be gleaned, however, from his first-person thoughts, his scant dialogue, and his reactions to Thompson’s actions.

Above all, he is gullible. He never imagines that the smell in the train car could come from anything but the pine box he believes to hold the body of his friend Hackett. He (and Thompson) allow their imaginations to run away with them to such a point that their health is severely compromised. The story provides several points at which the narrator could have discovered the true origin of the smell: when he first sees a white box identical to his own; when a stranger “skips” into the express car and sets a package down on the supposed coffin-box; and when the two attempt to budge the box, bending directly over the package.