"As Peyton Fahrquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead. 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. Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of his body and limbs. These pains appeared to flash along well defined lines of ramification and to beat with an inconceivably rapid periodicity. They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature...."
".... He had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly round, himself the pivotal point, and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the two privates, his executioners."
I actually have 2 questions regarding these lines and what lies between. First of all, how on earth did Peyton allegedly awake from the state of unconsciousness? Due to the sudden lack of blood flow to the brain when circulation is cut off by a rope, it would have been impossible for Peyton to have wakened from unconsciousness while still swinging on the rope. On top of that, in most cases, a man who is hung actually dies from the initial tightening of the rope because it breaks their neck. Strangulation being the cause of death is rare. So how did Peyton not only seemingly fall unconscious while falling, then wake up to the noose tightening?
Secondly, it seems like Peyton is underneath the water for an unreasonable amount of time. Taking into the account the strangulation caused by the noose, and the fact that "he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum," (which I might add would probably take at least 10-15 seconds to go through several arcs), as well as the amount of time it would have to have taken to free his hands, rip the noose, off, and then surface, it's almost impossible he would have had enough lung capacity to not slip into unconsciousness while underwater. However, despite these seemingly obvious clues I had no idea that Peyton was already dead.
We actually discuss your 1st pondering in class, but you might want to think about what cutting off oxygen supply to the brain does to a person.
ReplyDeleteYes- Bierce drops us breadcrumb clues that all is not as it seems. Why do you think we fall for the idea of Peyton surviving instead of accepting the reality of what the clues are telling us?
Perhaps it is because we, as readers, like a happy ending. We read about Peyton’s family and how much he loves and cares for them, and we internally hope that he (despite him being a slave owner) will be reunited with his family. This might us to focus on the escape plot from an anxious and hopeful point of view, than from a logical one.
DeleteGood point Ethan. He is underwater for such a long time that it does seem like I should have caught on. In my opinion this is one of the biggest hints that Bierce left us.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we get so caught up in Bierce’s descriptive writing that it’s hard for us to truly catch on to the little clues here and there.
ReplyDeleteYes, we got caught up in how he was saying it that we didn't pay as much attention to what he was actually saying.
DeleteAlso, I think this is not a normal style of writing that we are used too. Therefor, when we read the story, our brain didn't think much about it.
DeleteEthan, I the same question about how he didn't die immediately when he was dropped. But, as I continued to read the story, everything was described in so much detailed that I didn't thought about it too much. Then at the end of the book, when Bierce reveal the what actually happened, everything made a lot more sense.
ReplyDelete