Capital crimes lead to death row, and death row leads to execution. Capital punishment is analyzed thoroughly in the text of Ivan Turgenev, “The Execution of Tropmann”, a short essay outlining the start to finish of a condemned criminals last day. Turgenev's uneasy, guilty tone, and purpose of persuasion, effectively portray his non proponent point of view pertaining to the act of capital punishment.
In the month of January, 1870, in Paris, France, The execution of murderer Tropmann had been scheduled to take place, and our author, Ivan Turgenev has been invited to be front and center at the “big performance”. Turgenev's description of January 18, to the early morning execution on the 19th, is weaved with words and a tone of guilt, frustration, fear, and uneasiness. “We were all overwhelmed by a feeling of irksome and wearisome—yes, wearisome-uneasiness”(Sec.3). Turgenev's text clearly states that the thought of watching capital punishment created guilt within the invited audience, and this tone continues throughout the text. As the writing begins, a sense of pride is seen within Turgenev, but slowly the author's guilty tone gets the best of him and he describes what he felt as “ terribly sick at heart”(Sec.7). Turgenev does not understand how the “street urchins”, or crowd of “fans” can form, excited, to watch the entertainment of a public execution, while he feels a close, intertwined connection to Tropmann. Turgenev's tone continues to provide concrete evidence, and reiterates, his point of view throughout his essay.
Turgenev's text clearly has a persuasive factor within it. His point of writing is to ask why and how a person can be okay with capital punishment. Persuasively, Turgenev describes the events details to throw off the reader, to appall, and to make the reader think “why?”. As the actual execution approaches it is revealed that Turgenev can no longer go through with it and turns his head as the guillotine's blade comes crashing, swiftly down. The sound of the blade is enough to sicken Turgenev, and emotionally effect his life forever. “How could such a shocking routine be allowed? And capital punishment itself—could it possibly be justified?”(Sec12). Turgenev includes these rhetorical questions with the purpose of further reiterating his negative view of corporal punishment. As a last persuasion, Turgenev writes that “the question of capital punishment is one of the most urgent questions that humanity has to solve at this moment”(Sec. 12). This quotation wraps up his idea and persuades the reader to think and develop an idea that coincides along with his con capital punishment attitude.
Turgenev's opinion is one that, I too, take to heart. How can we, as human beings, kill other human beings? What Turgenev's guilty, embarrassed tone reveals is a negative opinion and a persuasive force that dives deep into the minds of the intellectual human being. His entire text makes a person want to think about his own personal beliefs regarding capital punishment, and the humaneness of it. Through tone and persuasiveness, Turgenev is successful in bringing his opinion to the surface and displaying his point of view on capital punishment.
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