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Post by shelbygraham on Jun 3, 2024 21:05:59 GMT
The story notes at the beginning, "gentlemen are not excluded" from military hangings. The process and preparations are the same regardless of who you may be. Likewise, no one is excluded from confrontations in life, whether it be confrontation with death, challenges, relationships, finding a place in the world, etc. In his last moment, the "gentleman" confronts what he is losing in a way that seems so real to him.
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 5, 2024 2:41:42 GMT
Right on, Shelby-- though one of the things we'll need to track throughout this course is the disappearance of things like "gentleman" in existentialist parlance. What does it even mean for someone to be a "gentleman" after the horrors of the twentieth century? Again, most existentialist see these signifiers as entirely arbitrary and meaningless-- so I would agree that your observation is even more trenchant!
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Post by shelbygraham on Jun 5, 2024 13:20:07 GMT
Interesting what you say about the disappearance of "gentleman" and other related ideas/terms; I look forward to discovering more about it. It's true, the defining characteristics of a gentleman during that time is probably skewed and ultimately the idea of being one is meaningless, if it cannot be truly defined.
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Post by gillianlaird on Jun 5, 2024 15:40:15 GMT
Hey, Shelby. This aspect of the story really resonated with me as well. I even annotated the quote you're mentioning: "The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded." To me, this very much implies that, regardless of social standing, no one is immune to life's challenges. In fact, this makes me think of another work we read this week: "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Hemingway. In saying that not even gentlemen are immune to death, Bierce seems to say that they are not immune to anything. So, when looking at the wealthy old man in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" we can likely conclude that Hemingway is alluding to the same thing. No amount of social standing, wealth, or good luck has the power to supersede despair, physical ailments, the law (although this point could be debated), or death. It is all very interesting, because there is such a stereotype (as seen portrayed by the young waiter) that financial abundance takes away all of life's worries. While, I think money can ease certain aspects of life, I think it comes with its own set of problems, as seen through the character of the old man. To me, the existentialists seem to be saying that humanity is all on even footing, regardless of wealth status.
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