Job #2

 I am redoing this second job because my first one was too similar to Joshuas. Sorry guys! 


In chapter 3 of the story, there is a section that says, once Fahrquhar was in the water, that his hands tore away the noose frI’m his neck. Peyton Fahrquhar immediately wished his hands had not undone the noose because “the undoing of the noose had been succeeded by the direst pain that he had yet experienced.” Why do you think the pain would be worse when the noose was UNdone? And why would he wish that his hands had not taken it off?

Comments

  1. JoshuaRGOctober 29, 2020 at 4:48 PM

    Interesting question, Claire. Common sense would tell you that it would hurt less after the noose was taken off, but that appears not to be the case in this story. One reason could be that, if the rope had been rapped tightly around his neck for a long time before, the rough fibers of the noose had already "nestled" on Farquhar's skin, so ripping the rope off suddenly tore at his skin, causing more pain (sort of like pulling a thorn out or ripping duct tape off of you arm).
    But on the other hand, since I think that this event didn't happen (or any of the other events of Chapter III save for the first few sentences and the very last sentence [which I still think is very depressing!!!]) the moment that Farquhar thought he tore off the noose was probably the moment that he was dropped from the bridge with the noose still attached and when the pain of slow suffocation began to set in. If that is true, than this is yet another example of what Farquhar thinks is going on being very different from what he feels physically. What do all you think about this?

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    Replies
    1. Elsah's Exuberant, Enthusiastic Short Story BlogOctober 29, 2020 at 8:39 PM

      The possibility of tearing the skin is very probable. The rope really can dig into the flesh of your skin. Nice example with the duct tape. I've done that! At the end of your response, you said something to the effect of that this did not actually happen. Thanks for stating that because I was confused a bit. But now I've got it I think. It is weird to think about Farquhar imagining he was freed. But in reality he dies. So sad... Why did he imagine that he was freed? Was it simply more of a wish?

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    2. JoshuaRGOctober 30, 2020 at 6:40 PM

      I think that Peyton Farquhar was so desperate to escape that he subconsciously resorted to delusion. It's almost like experiencing a mirage when you're dying of thirst in that Farquhar wanted to see his family so badly that when his mind realized it wouldn't happen in reality, it made something up just to satisfy his longing. Why do you guys think Farquhar imagined he was free?

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    3. BradenNovember 1, 2020 at 11:59 AM

      I don't think that Farquhar had any control of his dream or his mind at this point. So I don't think that question can truly be answered, Joshua. Maybe he had some control, but I'm highly skeptical.

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  2. MercyOctober 29, 2020 at 7:08 PM

    If this was real, sometimes it hurts a lot when you get your feeling back (like your leg is asleep and you stand up.) Maybe it hurt so bad he didn't want the pain. Maybe this is part dream because he wants to be free and part real because it hurts.

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    Replies
    1. Elsah's Exuberant, Enthusiastic Short Story BlogOctober 29, 2020 at 7:31 PM

      Oh that's a good idea Mercy! It is so true! It is interesting to think about what actually happened and what he imagined happened.

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  3. Elsah's Exuberant, Enthusiastic Short Story BlogOctober 29, 2020 at 7:33 PM

    I wonder if it was more painful when the noose was undone because, like Joshua stated, it ripped at his skin. Ropes that are tied very tightly dig into the skin. Maybe that was the source of the "direst" pain.

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  4. BradenNovember 1, 2020 at 11:44 AM

    I think that the pain the author refers to was probably the moment when Farquhar's neck broke. To me, this is one of the story's myriad subtle hints that everything is not as it seems to Farquhar.

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