The issue for a writer is how to close the gap, often yawning, between the writer's subject and the reader's experience. Give one example of how Richard Harding Davis creates reader admiration and/or sympathy for Rodriguez in his story. You should cite a specific image, description, etc., rather than make a general statement. Notice, too, how he leads us to feel quite the opposite about the Spaniards.
Please respond by 3 p.m., Feb. 22 (Wednesday.)
16 comments:
The first scene where I felt sympathy for Rodriguez was in Harding's description of him. The second paragraph on page 73 begins by stating, "He had a handsome, gentle face of the peasant type, a light, pointed beard, great wistful eyes, and a mass of curly black hair." In that first sentence alone Harding uses soft and welcoming adjectives of Rodriguez's physical characteristics. This is a man that is being condemned to death; so naturally the reader would think of him as an enemy or monster. However, in that description and as the paragraph continues, Rodriguez is portrayed as an average guy who was simply protecting his home.
"You could imagine him sitting on the quay at Naples or Genoa lolling in the sun and showing his white teeth when he laughed" does not depict a criminal deserving death by firing squad. Rather, an innocent, non-threatening human being with raw emotions.
After feeling sympathetic in that paragraph, the reader also gains admiration for Rodriguez in the following paragraph as Harding describes the nonchalance of the cigarette between his lips and his straight, fearless posture. It takes a truly courageous man to stand alone before a swarm of enemies and patiently wait to die.
Harding portrayed the Spaniards in such a way where the reader would hold resentment and even anger towards them. First, because there were six volunteers who willingly signed up to shoot another man to death. Then again when they are about to fire but force Rodriguez to move so they do not shoot members of their own. Rodriguez's calm response is again admirable, and makes the Spaniards look worse to the reader. No emotion of the volunteers is given when they hold up their guns and shoot a man to death, making them seem almost heartless.On the other hand, Rodriguez is shown as humane, innocent, and brave, but helpless.
Richard Harding Davis has probably seen countless lives lost in battles or through executions, but the thing about this author is that he can take the death of Rodriguez, one of thirty Cuban insurgents to die during his time there, and make it mean something. Davis incites sympathy for Rodriguez by making him real, and not just another number.
The passage that really drives the point home is the one giving Rodriguez more strength than the soldiers that are going to execute him. The descriptive words Davis uses, such as “erect and soldierly” and the whole time Rodriguez didn’t cower or seize up upon the realization that he was going to die, rather he was “at a quick step in advance” of the priests. Rodriguez, the son of a farmer, was more of a hero than the ones’ who ruled from overseas (Spain). Through this ordeal, Davis makes the point that any man would lose his composure in front of a firing squad, but not Rodriguez. He retained his posture, he towered over his enemies. Davis compares him to the statue at City Hall Park, the one that rises over the chaos of Broadway. Just focusing on the way he stands is a powerful tool. We’re taught to sit up straight, don’t slouch when we walk etc. because it doesn’t command respect.
Aversely, Davis portrays the Spanish soldiers, or the firing squad, as goofy, awkward and sort of incompetent. He points out the officer of the firing squad incorrectly ordering his men to shoot higher than expected, in the process potentially inciting friendly fire. The officer stands “mortified by his blunder” (74). As to counteract the poise of Rodriguez, one of the soldiers gets his foot caught on a vine and falls.
Richard Harding Davis first expected the condemned man to have trouble walking the half mile towards his execution without any strength. However, it was those around him that were trying to keep up with him, the man sentenced to death. Davis proceeds to describe his physical characteristics, drawing the reader in. By imagining him being in the sun and his "great wistful eyes," he could be anybody and not one about to be executed. But he is about to be executed and Davis humanizes him instead of letting him be just a number amongst the other insurgents to be killed/have been killed. There is great admiration for Rodriguez, as Davis goes to state that Rodriguez is keeping his cool, his nonchalance despite the fact he is about to be killed. Davis goes onto state that even though his enemies can kill Rodriguez, they cannot frighten him. I can imagine Rodriguez staring into the morning light beyond the hills just as any human being might do, waiting for their death, however he has the courage and dexterity even though he is in a helpless situation. Even before Rodriguez's execution, Davis speaks of how the composure he kept when "you would expect that any man ... would start to tremble." His self-control proved more than than anything preformed in battle. Reading this far into the story, I was very much sympathetic towards Rodriguez and for the death that was about to happen. When Davis proceeds to talk about his body as a figure, it made me angry at those around him, the Spaniards. There is no emotion, he was just a figure that those 6 men volunteered to shoot.
Harding states on the bottom of page 72, that "a condemned man walks only a short distance from his cell to the scaffold or the electric chair," normally I suppose, but on this particular morning Rodriquez was to walk for over a half mile to his death. That detail gave me the feeling that his execution was significant. Harding goes on to describe it as a cruel journey, which to me was like calling the Spaniards themselves cruel. That pretty much set the tone for my persecution of them in this piece.
In this scene Rodriquez walks that long distance with dignity. Harding describes his posture as erect and soldierly, and instead of being led to his death, he led. I feel that for Harding to know to record and share details like that is what closes the gap between the subject and the reader. It gave us a sense of who Rodriquez might have been leading up to his execution. Harding says that Rodriguez was "shockingly young for such a sacrifice,"(page 73) and that's exactly what I imagined it was. At the bottom of page 75, Harding ends with saying that Rodriguez's blood began to sink into the soil he had tried to free. I imagine that it takes a very courageous man to make such a sacrifice. All the expectations of fear in Rodriguez that Harding thought he'd see fell short. Rodriguez kept his dignity even after being told to move once he'd already expected to receive a "volley of bullets." All of these descriptions make Rodriguez admirable. I felt the most sympathetic when I read on page 75 that tears ran down the face of the younger priest, how the two priests had spent time with Rodriguez before the morning of his execution. It seems as though within that time he had gotten to know Rodriguez enough to be saddened by his death. Maybe he was familiar with the revolution taking place and understood Rodriguez's position. Either that or the execution was too much for him, but given those times, I assume he had seen a few already.
Although he met his punishment fearlessly, Harding also points out that it wasn't with arrogance or bravado, which is commendable because I feel that most people would rely on arrogance in a situation like that. I also found it interesting that one of the soldiers tripped when passing Rodriguez's corpse, when he himself had not stumbled once on his way to death.
Richard Harding Davis creates reader admiration and sympathy for Rodriguez many times throughout his story.
To begin, there is an immediate feeling of sympathy when Davis writes that “a condemned man walks only the short distance from his cell to the scaffold or the electric chair, shielded from sight by the prison walls...even then that the short journey is too much for his strength and courage,” and follows it with “on this morning...the prisoner walk for over a half mile across the broken surface of the fields.” The reader instantly feels sorry for Rodriguez. The reader then feels even more sympathy for him once he is described in the next paragraph.
However, for some reason the line that drew me most to the story was not until later in the story. “But there was this difference, that Rodriguez, while probably as willing to give six lives for his country...did not think to say so, and he will not, in consequence, live...” Upon thinking as to why this line stood out to me so much, I realized it was because the detailed and descriptive language offered a much simpler message that is still applicable today -- you must speak up if you want to reap rewards. In fact, this message makes me as a reader feel more sympathetic towards Rodriguez. There are so many times where a person wishes they spoke up but did not, and thus they do not receive a desirable outcome.
In Davis' "The Death of Rodriquez", the author creates reader sympathy or admiration with the scene of the first attempt to kill Rodriguez. Davis says "And then one of the most cruelly refine, though unintentional, acts of torture that one can very well imagine." One of the officers told the the other officer to pause the execution because soldiers were in the line of fire. The reader feels sympathy for Rodriguez because he was prepared to die and have his life ended, yet their was a disruption in his death. Davis says "The man had steeled himself to receive a volley of Bullets." This first attempt in his execution was a tease for the main character. All of the tension and anticipation of his death was built up to the top and then immediately stopped for a second. The officer then signals the second attempt which kills him. You feel sorry or sympathetic because the character was so helpless and had no control over any of the actions, during the execution. He was just patiently waiting and prepared to die. The main character may have thought that after the first attempt he had a chance to live.
Richard Harding Davis creates both admiration and sympathy for Rodriguez as he describes the body language in what leads up to and after Rodriguez’s death. Before his death, Rodriguez stands tall with his head held upright, “he straightened himself as far as the cords would allow, and held his head up his head and fixed his eyes immovably on the morning light.” He seems fearless and because he was looking up, it suggests that he wasn’t timid and that he was ready to face his reality. Also, as he was walking to his death, Rodriguez walked ahead of the pack demonstrating that he was courageous and brave. Davis makes it seem that the Spaniards went out of their way to make this walk dreadful, but still, Rodriguez showed his strength creating admiration for him.
After the execution, the body language of Rodriguez is the complete opposite of what is was before the death. He is now limp and helpless on the ground instead of being tall and heroic. Making it even more sympathetic is that as the soulless officers and soldiers walked past the body, they didn’t seem to care or show emotion and some didn’t even look down at the body and walked past it like it was nothing. Davis creates the admiration and sympathy for Rodriguez by depicting his body language. He was once a strong person but now he is helpless.
"The Death Of Rodriguez" stuck home for me personally just because of the historical aspect. My great-grandfather fought to get Castro into power (big mistake on his part) and learning anything about what happened before that point makes me feel connected with the author as well as the people in the story.
Besides my personal connection with the content of the story, Davis seemed to emphasize his personal experience nearing the end of the piece. While
the whole story set us up for an almost majestic setting, the actual plot of the story contradicts that completely.
On page 75, Davis observes the other soldiers filing past the dead body. He says, "each soldier as he passed turned and looked down on it." Right here, you can hear the disgust that Davis is feeling. Like Crane, he writes "it" when referring to Rodriguez. No longer is he an actual human being, but rather a thing. Throughout the entire piece, Davis illustrates Rodriguez as a strong and almost confident man. He spends nearly 3/4 of the piece characterizing Rodriguez and then merely lists the events that followed his execution.
On top of his use of the word it, Davis also gives a description of the soldiers as well. He says on page 75, "[the soldiers craned] their necks curiously, others [gave] a careless glance, and some [looked] without any interest at all, as they would have looked at a house by the roadside, or a hole in the ground." This scene in the story made me disgusted by the Spaniard's actions. They didn't even take the time to really look at what they had done.
I remember from 10th grade History that the Spanish-American War started because the Spanish attacked us. That has been up for debate for quite some time because of our then interests in obtaining Cuba. Regardless if Davis was trying to sway public opinion in favor of the rebels in Cuba, I believe he was getting at something much bigger than that. Davis swathe inhumanity and carelessness that went on during the war, and he knew that someone needed to stop it.
"You would expect that any man who had been snatched back to life in such a fashion would start and tremble at the reprieve, or would break down altogether, but this boy turned his head steadily, and followed with his eyes the direction of the officer's sword, then nodded his head gravely, and, with his shoulders squared, took up a new position, straightened his back again, and once more held himself erect.
As an exhibition of self-control this should surely rank above feats of heroism performed in battle, where there are thousands of comrades to give inspiration. This man was alone, in the sight of the hills he knew, with only enemies about him, with no source to draw on for strength but that which lay within himself."
I simultaneously felt extreme sympathy and admiration for Rodriguez when Davis described how the captain told him to move in order to be in a better position to be shot. It is an incredible scene. As Davis writes, I am sure that Rodriguez must have felt an indescribable shock when he felt a human hand on his body instead of a cascade of bullets. If the story had been told from Rodriguez’s point of view, I think his inner monologue would have been racing at that point. However, the reader only sees him turn, nod, and take up his new position with a straight back and square shoulders. This scene creates sympathy and admiration in me because of the juxtaposition of what I believe he must have been thinking at this point and how he physically reacts. I would never have been able to act so calmly and bravely in a million years. Also, Davis writes how he considers this reaction, an “exhibition of self-control,” should rank “above feats of heroism performed in battle.” With this sentence, Davis cements the readers’ admiration for Rodriguez over any slight feelings they might have had for the soldiers. Rodriguez surely has more strength and courage in his body than all of the soldiers facing him combined, the soldiers who, later on, trip and stumble away from his body, back towards town.
Throughout the piece, Davis creates admiration and sympathy for Rodriguez multiple times. The first time that I personally admired Rodriguez was when Davis was describing him in the middle of 73. "...but with the nonchalance of a man who meets his punishment fearlessly, and who will let his enemies see that they can kill but not frighten him." Reading that line, I felt that Rodriguez was a hero and I would've been proud to have known him. Davis creates the character to be so brave and give a true meaning to the word "hero."
Another part was at the bottom of 73 and the top of 74, when Davis describes how Rodriguez would die for his country. Reading that the character is only a peasant and will only be remembered as one of thirty Cubans who died really struck me. It made me admire Rodriguez even more because he is dying for his country and does not care about any medal of honor or any recognition. How much more patriotic can you get than that? That is definitely an admirable characteristic that Rodriguez has, which Davis did an outstanding job of capturing.
I think it’s rather impossible for a reader not to feel some type of benevolent attitude towards Rodriguez. I want to initially say that Davis’ description of Rodriguez (“He had a handsome, gentle face of the peasant type, alight, pointed beard, great wistful eyes, and a mass of curly black hair…showing his white teeth when he laughed.” Yes please, I have been convinced to marry this handsome stranger) makes him seem like a noble young man who in no way deserves his tragic fate, but I think something that’s interesting is the few sentences before and after the execution about the band that accompanied the soldiers. On page 72 when Davis is describing the scene and the formation of the soldiers, he takes what was a somber image in my head and throws a strange picture into the mix, writing, “Outside the line the band still played merrily.” After the execution and in the underwhelming aftermath, there is the sentence (on page 75) that says, “…and the band began again with the same quickstep which the fusillade had interrupted.” The band seems like some incessant slap in the face to Rodriguez and the entire situation. When I read it, all I could pictures was a movie being filmed at the pivotal execution scene. Rodriguez walks on set, glistening, his white teeth clutching his cigarette, every muscle tense – and then this band of assholes starts playing their high school theme song. Obviously that’s not what happened, but I don’t think that the band was added in by Davis just to add to the imagery of the scene. The juxtaposition between serious execution (that apparently interrupts the bands musical jaunt with the soldiers) and merry band degrades the situation which in turn puts less of an importance on Rodriguez as a human being. Thus: reader admiration and/or sympathy.
In Richard Harding Davis' "Death of Rodriguez," the author creates admiration for the condemned man, the Cuban, by describing him as soldierly, brave, courageous and strong. The reader learns this man was fighting for the freedom of his country from imperial rule. The condemned man is also described as handsome and young, and his youth arises sympathy from the reader because the younger someone is when they die, it's almost sadder than the death of someone who is elderly, because they never got a chance to live a full life. I could just picture the stoic young man with his hands tied behind his back, the very last cigarette he would ever smoke dangling from his lips. I thought the cigarette was a great symbol for showing the passage of time, because you get a sense of how quickly the execution took place, even though there was a brief hold-up, because a cigarette cannot take more than five minutes to smoke, and it was still burning on the ground after the man died. Harding also created a hero/victim versus antagonist/perpetrator dynamic that arouses sympathy from the reader because the Spanish soldiers, after the Cuban is dead, are portrayed as unemotional and without humanity. This is evident in the line, "Each soldier as he passed turned and looked down on it, some craning their necks curiously, others giving a careless glance, and some without any interest at all, as they would have looked at a house by the roadside or a passing cart or a hole in the road."
Richard Harding Davis has developed many scenes to capture a sympathetic feeling from the readers. Pass the midpoint of page 73 was when Rodriguez dropped his cigarette and kissed the cross. How Davis wrote the scene was, to me, very moving. Before that he wrote, "It seems a petty thing to have been pleased with at such a time, but I confess to have felt a thrill of satisfaction, when I saw as the Cuban passed me, but with the nonchalance of a man who meets his punishments fearlessly, and who will let his enemies see that they can kill but not frighten him. " Describing his movements, and having him finish with a kiss on the cross showed that Rodriguez was noble courageous. He was ready to die.
Davis continues through the next page describing his achievements, making him seem as a predominant figure. He then writes how to some he will be seen as a war hero, but to others he would not matter. This scene delivers more sympathy to the reader because this is something that anybody can go through. Even today when celebrities make the front page news there are people in Afganistan and Iran who lost their lives and very few actually care.
When Davis wrote about the Spaniards. He portrayed them as men who were stiff, consistent with no emotion. On page 74 Davis describes their movement and actions as being together. He made them seen as they were foreign people who have never experienced and execution of a member. I picture them as toy soldiers with a switch on the back. Turn them on at the same time and they all move the same.
In the beginning when Davis was describing Rodriquez' entrance I felt the writing was really calm despite the the looming doom in his future. The line of Rodriguez dropping the cigarette and kissing the cross from the priest really made me feel Rodriguez was at peace with his forthcoming death. But the line that really makes me feel sympathetic for the man is when he turns to face the hills and Davis specifically points out that it is the direction of his fathers farm. Rodriguez is painted in my mind as a honorable, loyal, and humble young man, and for him to face his fathers farm really struck me.
The Spanish appear to me as very stoic, they have no faces so they do not feel like they are an emotional human being. To pull back a trigger and kill someone is such a heartless thing to do. The Spanish come off as intruders, violating a peaceful, serene land. The people fear them and that's why when they have come to watch the execution they say nothing and stand far apart from each other. The death of one man is the death of their homeland.
This piece is written with such fluidity, I barely noticed the change in scenes. It didn't feel like Davis was just describing an event, but rather planting a living memory in my head.
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