"In the Penal Colony":
- The explorer seems taken aback that the condemned man doesn't know his own sentence. What is the significance of this moment (p. 57)?
- What is the purpose of this execution machine?
- This is what a harrow is: http://www.opico.co.uk/he-va-machines/disc-roller-disc-harrow-cultivator/images/rigid-1-section.jpg It's a farm implement used to break up the earth and smooth it out again. What is the significance that there is a "harrow" on the execution machine?
- What do you make of the fact that the officer seems so unsympathetic about the suffering that the condemned will go through?
- How is the word "sentence" used in the story? What is the significance that the explorer can't read the sentences that the officer shows to him?
- On page 74, there is a space break and then a little over a page left in the story. What is the significance about that last section?
"A Report to an Academy":
- What is the academy that is being reported to?
- Both this story and "The Metamorphosis" are about transformations. Can you make connections?
- What's the difference between "freedom" and "a way out" in the story (p. 84)?
- Who educates the ape to be a human and how? Significance?
- What is the significance that the ape nightly has sex with a trained chimpanzee? If he's really no longer an ape, then is he a human? If he's a human, then isn't this bestiality? Or is he something else? And if he's something else, then what separates him from humans?
"In the Penal Colony"
ReplyDeleteThe explorer seems taken aback that the condemned man doesn't know his own sentence. What is the significance of this moment (p. 57)?
I couldn't really depict something significant but common sense, I would say the explorer was taken back because he found it strange that the condemned man couldn't even defend himself or prepare for his death sentencing.
What is the purpose of this execution machine?
The purpose of this execution machine is to punish the condemned man by making him suffer for the law that he broke. The condemned man doesn't know he is being sentenced, let alone what for, until he "learns it on his body" when the harrow is carving it into his skin.
This is what a harrow is: http://www.opico.co.uk/he-va-machines/disc-roller-disc-harrow-cultivator/images/rigid-1-section.jpg It's a farm implement used to break up the earth and smooth it out again. What is the significance that there is a "harrow" on the execution machine?
The significance of the harrow on the execution machine is the main focal point for it [the machine]. It's used to punish the condemned man and repetitively write and carve the law broken into the condemned man. And finally at the end, the harrow will skewer the condemned man, proceeding to kill him.
What do you make of the fact that the officer seems so unsympathetic about the suffering that the condemned will go through?
The officer seems so unsympathetic about the suffering that the condemned man will go through because, on page 57, he says "The matter is as follows. Here in the penal colony, I serve as the judge. Despite my youth. Because in all penal matters I stood side by side with previous governor, and I also know the machine best. The principle behind my decisions is: Guilt is always beyond doubt." In my opinion he is unsympathetic because he has never broken a law or regulation in the penal colony and supposedly in the penal colony, "special regulations were required, even to extreme limits."
How is the word "sentence" used in the story? What is the significance that the explorer can't read the sentences that the officer shows to him?
The word sentence is used in this story to describe the law/regulation that was broken by the condemned man and the kind of death he will face. The condemned man doesn't know his sentence or that he's being sentenced, because the officer feels it would be pointless to inform him of it since he'll learn it on his body when the harrow is carving it for 12 hours. Also, it would be pointless to inform the condemned man and interrogate him because it would lead to confusion and lies on the condemned man's behalf.
On page 74, there is a space break and then a little over a page left in the story. What is the significance about that last section?
I did some research on the internet because I wasn't too clear of an answer, and a lot of pages discussed a constant motif of the Old Commandment vs. the New Commandment. I'm assuming the break in the page is a symbol for a new age for the penal colony which was abolishing the execution machine since the new Governor/Commandment was against it. The break ends with the officer dying under the machine -- maybe this was a foreshadow of abolishment and a new age; the penal colony's execution machine will no longer be used and the previous Governor's reign is finally put to rest since he condoned the machine in the first place and had one person still carrying out the executions.
"A Report to an Academy"
ReplyDeleteWhat is the academy that is being reported to?
The academy the main character is reporting to is some sort of science academy because the opening sentence of the letter says to submit a report discussing the former life as an ape and possibly the transformation that came along with it.
Both this story and "The Metamorphosis" are about transformations. Can you make connections?
"The Metamorphosis" talks about a transformation of the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, waking up as a ginormous bug vs "A Report to an Academy" talks about a transformation of the protagonist formerly known as an ape and transformed into a human.
What's the difference between "freedom" and "a way out" in the story (p. 84)?
The difference between "freedom" and "a way out" in the story I think would mean having to do with being an ape vs. being a human. I think the protagonist meant "a way out" of being an ape because on this page, he says "no building would remain unshaken by the laughter of the ape world at that sight," and he also notes "anything but standing still with raised arms, flattened against the side of a crate." I think he meant freedom as being human, not the literal term.
Who educates the ape to be a human and how? Significance?
The people on the ship educated the ape to be a human. I think it was ironic how they taught him how to be a human because the narrator goes into discussion [page 84-85] on how these men really had no mannerisms that a human would possess; they kind of portrayed themselves as being animalistic in nature themselves.
What is the significance that the ape nightly has sex with a trained chimpanzee? If he's really no longer an ape, then is he a human? If he's a human, then isn't this bestiality? Or is he something else? And if he's something else, then what separates him from humans?
Reading this story, I noted something -- we believe that we have evolved from apes; we are taught that apes are our primate ancestors. I don't think this is considered bestiality because although he is a human now, he once was an ape. It is in his nature to be drawn to a chimpanzee and sex is apart of life for anything existing in this world whether its animals or humans. The act of reproduction is present in different species.