As the narrator investigates, he uncovers a dark chapter in Revere’s past. Before becoming a surgeon, Revere was a gifted painter. In a fit of jealous rage, he used his left hand to fatally strike his artistic rival, a man named Maxwell, who had both surpassed him in art and won the love of the woman Revere adored. Revere buried the secret—and the body—but his buried guilt became embodied in the very hand that committed the crime.
In the story’s climax, Revere is about to perform a critical operation when his left hand seizes the scalpel. In a final, decisive act of will, he forces his right hand to restrain the left—but the struggle is so intense that he suffers a fatal brain hemorrhage. He dies, leaving the narrator to conclude that his mind was literally torn apart by the conflict between his public genius and his hidden crime. The Gifted Hand
During moments of emotional stress, excitement, or moral conflict, Revere loses all control over his left hand. It acts independently, often in direct opposition to his conscious will. It might tear up a letter he intended to send, push away a glass he meant to drink from, or strike out at a patient he is trying to comfort. Revere confesses to the narrator that this “rebellious” hand seems to have a malevolent intelligence of its own. As the narrator investigates, he uncovers a dark