"To die of hanging at the bottom of a river!--the idea seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the darkness and saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible! He was still sinking, for the light became fainter and fainter until it was a mere glimmer. Then it began to grow and brighten, and he knew that he was rising toward the surface--knew it with reluctance, for he was now very comfortable. "To be hanged and drowned," he thought? "that is not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; that is not fair."" (Chapter 3)
Why does Peyton Farquhar feel it is fine to be hung and drowned, but feels it is unfair to be shot? Does he think he doesn't deserve to be shot? Or, does Peyton feel it is harder to escape from being shot, and so thinks its unfair?
My personal opinion is that he thinks he is exhausted, (because he is in a dream) and doesn't feel like trying to escape from gun shots too. The 'Yanks' have already tried to kill Peyton by hanging him, but they failed, dropping him from a bridge into a large body of water, probably drowning him. But they failed again! Shooting him is much more uncivil, in the victims mind, so he classifies it as unfair.
What do you think?
I like this question, Ben! I have an opinion but will wait to see what your group answers!
ReplyDeleteMy opinion, is that when he was sinking and drowning, he didn't consider the possibility of being shot, so he was not thrilled about the idea of drowning. Then, when he was rising to the top, he realized that, since he was rising to the top, he would probably get shot. He had thought of this before. After this realization he changed his mind and felt that he would prefer drowning rather than being shot.
ReplyDeletePerhaps being shot was the way to dispose of a criminal, and he didn't feel like he deserved to be killed like a criminal. I'm not sure about this, it's just a guess. Unfortunately, we don't know why he's being disposed of.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is true. He possibly was thinking that because he was suffering in so many ways, he didn't think it was fair to almost drown, experience that trauma only to also have to get shot since that didn't end up killing him.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe gunshot is more painful...Of course that doesn't make much sense to me. Wouldn't that be quicker? Drowning sounds extremely unpleasant. I'd much rather be shot.
ReplyDeleteIt's debatable. When you drown, you're probably going to pass out as soon as you actually start experiencing pain. Being shot doesn't also mean that you die right away.
DeleteIt is much more cowardly to die from drowning than to die from getting shot. When you die from drowning (suffocation ) you are basically showing that you are to weak to swim to the surface. If you die from being shot there is nothing you can do to prevent it.
ReplyDeleteSo why is he ok with dying the cowardly way?- This man is obviously a complete coward and the crime he did was also most likely cowardly, therefore making him okay with dying in a cowardly fashion.