Journal #8 Ambrose Bierce: Oh The Humanity!

QUOTE:

“From this state he was awakened – ages later, it seemed to him – by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation” (Bierce 363).


SUMMARY:

Peyton Farquhar is being hanged. This is the description that leads to the “trick” ending, but it is really describing the suffocation sensation of the hanging.


RESPONSE:

The beginning of Part III is creepy and pretty horrible when I think about it; and it reminds me of my experience waking up from a coma, like many other texts do as well. When I first woke up, it was the middle of the night and I thought I was dreaming. I had no sense of time or anything, so it seemed like I had forgotten my whole entire life. I guess the difference is that I was waking up, but Farquhar is “falling asleep” a.k.a. dying. I think Farquhar also had more time to experience thoughts in his brain as he dies, which led to his “dream” sequence. I guess maybe that’s better than actually knowing that you are dying, kind of like a movie that just suddenly ends, instead of Farquhar using that time to think about how he’s dying a horrible death.

What I find really interesting about this story (I’m pretty sure Dr. Scott pointed this out in class, and I agree) is that I think the readers are going to be on Farquar’s side. The readers want him to have escaped the noose, but don’t necessarily want any slave owner to help sabotage “The Yanks,” or get any sort of upper hand. Without section II, I believe the readers (and myself) would feel more disappointed or depressed from the ending. However, even though I don’t feel quite as bad for Farquar once I know his background, I still notice that section III makes me wish that he ends up escaping in the end. Maybe that’s just having some sort of compassion for another human being going through a horrible experience?