"And now he became conscious of a new disturbance. Striking through the thought of his dear ones was a sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurably distant or near by—it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell. He awaited each new stroke with impatience and—he knew not why—apprehension. The intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of his watch." (Chapter 1)
This section shows that time seemed to slow down in Peyton Farquhar's mind. This explains how he was able to imagine getting away before he died. It also shows that he was thinking of things other than being hanged. I found it interesting that time slowed down so much that he could imagine a getaway of at least five minutes before coming back to reality.
Yea, that is really crazy. It was pretty cool to read about that vision/dream that he had even though he was pretty much dead.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting that he could even think straight while being hung.
DeleteThat quote brings in the idea of time slowing down to an almost unbearable rate, this is almost some sort of a clue that we could have caught onto of Farquhar's imaginations. His always wondering mind was also a clue, whether it was from his family, his escape or in this instance the ticking watch. With all this I wonder how old Farquhar is, because his flash back upon his world is very different then I would have thought it to be?
ReplyDeletePeyton's hallucinations are almost like a sweet torture because none of it is real.
ReplyDeleteFarquhar had to be old enough to manage the plantation, but young enough to have children at home. It only mentions his children three times while his wife was mentioned at least five or ten times. He could have also inherited the plantation recently, as it says he was "of an old and highly respected Alabama family." This shows that he probably did not start the plantation, but it was a family farm that was passed down through the generations. I think he was younger because he believed the federal scout in disguise without questioning him more or being even slightly suspicious of him.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bryce, very good insight! I think I would have to agree on the idea of Fahrquhar being younger, because he is also rash in his decision to destroy the railroad all by himself. All he really thought about was the glory and honor for his country, never the idea of being caught and receiving the consequence of death for his action.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Great discussion ya'll! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI think it was interesting how his mind became completely unaware of what was actually happening around him, and now as I realize how oxygen deprived he would've been it makes sense that he processed even the ticking of his watch as the loud and ringing sound of a hammer. Small things were exaggerated to become huge things. His senses were so heightened.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but as time seemed to slow down his mind seemed to speed up. He had time to imagine a five to ten minute getaway. This is confusing to me in that you can only survive five minutes maximum without oxygen.
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DeleteThat is a good point Bryce! Since brain cells are completely destroyed after a maximum of six minutes without oxygen to the brain, someone would probably only last about that long before dying. Maybe in reality, he would have imagined all that within a shorter period of time. We don't know exactly how much time he was imagining this however... it could have only been a few minutes.
DeleteThat is very interesting, I like the way you put it. It is crazy what the thoughts of death can give within a small time frame. Great statement.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, Alivia. I can't even imagine how he managed to do that.
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