Tuesday, March 14, 2017
I guess this is probably the most obvious question, but it is the one that still strikes me. What did he do to get him hanged? I wonder if it was something like treachery, or something more like having killed someone? He didn't seem to feel wrongly accused, but he also does not seem to be the kind of man to commit a terrible crime.
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It doesn't come right out & say, does it? You need to read between the lines - just like a lot of the rest of the story :)
ReplyDeleteI have thought hard about this too Jade! My thought is that, when the soldier came by his house and said "I observed that the flood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. It is now dry and would burn like tinder." the man maybe went to that place to start it on fire(or do something), but it was a trap (since that soldier was actually a federal scout) maybe there was soldiers waiting for him, or the driftwood simply wasn't there and he was seen.
ReplyDeleteYES, I think this man is a complete coward and started the pile of wood on fire which then started someone's house on fire. I think he was mad at the owner of the house by the log pile. One night he probably got drunk and started the logs on fire while in his wrong mind.
DeleteLOL - Cody, what story were you reading? Nobody burned a house down! :)
DeleteI think you are right Madi. I think that Peyton Farquhar (the person being strung up)was caught trying to burn the bridge or caught tampering with the railroad, crimes punishable by hanging according to the book.
ReplyDeleteThat would make the most sense to me. I mean, they say, "Yeah, you'll get hanged if you mess with the railroad." and then the dude gets hanged! This is was most likely happened in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to post as my second post. So I am going to ask a question.
ReplyDeleteWhy did the soldiers make such a ceremony about Mr. Farquhar's execution? They seemed to have some code they were following or something like that. Why do you think they made is so formal?
Ben, I seriously almost posted this as my question. The execution seemed so ceremonial. When I first looked over this story I remember thinking he must have been a very important person like a general or something. Or maybe when he was meddling with the bridge he showed a lot of skill in trying to escape when they captured him, that hey had extra security for to ensure his execution was carried out?
ReplyDeleteI think they were just so posh that they had to have fancy ceremony. Maybe they were bored. Maybe they had always dreamed of executing someone in such a way. The possibilities are endless.
ReplyDeleteI think that these executioner guards had nothing better to do than come to "gaurd" this execution. The war probably was very demanding of soldiers, therefore forcing many to stay at home. This may be why the man wasn't at war:)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if we covered this in class, but everything in the military is very formal & regimented - when & how you get up in the morning, when you go to bed, how your room is to be kept, etc. Inspections are very formal. It makes sense that there is a specific order & formality to even an execution. Also, all the details ground the reader in reality so later, when there is the departure from reality, the reader is not so suspicious!
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