The Man He Killed By Thomas Hardy Analysis Essay
It takes seconds to send a bullet right through someone’s frame, and in that time you account for someone’s whole lifetime. That one instantaneous decisions garners consequences that if not handled properly, may become detrimental. Within “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy, the speaker struggles to approach the repercussions brought about by his enlisting in the military.
To establish the stark contrast between war and neutrality, Thomas Hardy opens and closes “The Man He Killed” in a bar, a common place where a plethora of people can meet. In doing so, he delves into the deeper concept of corruption. During war one often must kill another in order to gain the advantage for their side. However, the speaker poses the question of what his said “enemy” has done to him to deserve their death by stating, “I shot him dead because- / Because he was my foe / Just so: my foe of course he was; / That’s clear enough; although” (Hardy, 9-12). The repetition of the word “because” between lines 9 and 10 depicts the uncertainty between the speaker's conscious and what he is forced to believe. He confesses the fallacy that because he is on one side, all who reside on the other are to be killed regardless of how they are as a person. That although he did not know a single trait about who he shot, …show more content…
According to the speaker’s tone, he does not express a great desire to be apart of the conflict. “He thought he’d list, perhaps, / Off-hand like - just as I - / Was out of work - had sold his traps - / No other reason why” (Hardy, 13-16). Without any previous consideration, the speaker was expected to enlist in the military to support his family due to financial complications. He is perhaps frustrated and unable to come up with an answer. He portrays his skepticism in making the decision by using hyphenations within the stanza to represent his struggle to construct an internal
To establish the stark contrast between war and neutrality, Thomas Hardy opens and closes “The Man He Killed” in a bar, a common place where a plethora of people can meet. In doing so, he delves into the deeper concept of corruption. During war one often must kill another in order to gain the advantage for their side. However, the speaker poses the question of what his said “enemy” has done to him to deserve their death by stating, “I shot him dead because- / Because he was my foe / Just so: my foe of course he was; / That’s clear enough; although” (Hardy, 9-12). The repetition of the word “because” between lines 9 and 10 depicts the uncertainty between the speaker's conscious and what he is forced to believe. He confesses the fallacy that because he is on one side, all who reside on the other are to be killed regardless of how they are as a person. That although he did not know a single trait about who he shot, …show more content…
According to the speaker’s tone, he does not express a great desire to be apart of the conflict. “He thought he’d list, perhaps, / Off-hand like - just as I - / Was out of work - had sold his traps - / No other reason why” (Hardy, 13-16). Without any previous consideration, the speaker was expected to enlist in the military to support his family due to financial complications. He is perhaps frustrated and unable to come up with an answer. He portrays his skepticism in making the decision by using hyphenations within the stanza to represent his struggle to construct an internal