FIVE WAYS TO KILL A

MAN

- EDWIN BROCK

EDWIN BROCK

• 1927-1997• British poet• He had no literary aspirations. He just

completed his formal school education.• His poems have a very matter-of-fact way of

expression. Very factual.• Traumatic experience of marital conflict

permeated his poetry

FIVE WAYS TO KILL A MAN

• Written in 1972• Mocks at the dehumanization of man• Describes the various ways of killing that man has

used from the 1st to the 20th century• It is a satire on progress and civilization• Explores human cruelty• Human progress has just been reduced to progress

in terms of techniques of killing• Insensitiveness and lack of virtues in modern times

1st STANZA

There are many cumbersome ways to kill a man.You can make him carry a plank of woodto the top of a hill and nail him to it. To do thisproperly you require a crowd of peoplewearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloakto dissect, a sponge, some vinegar and oneman to hammer the nails home

Meaning………

• Crucifixion as a method of killing• Biblical allusion- Jesus Christ• Golgotha• Crowd of people witnessing the crucifixion• ‘cock that crows’- St Peter denied knowing

him thrice. Jesus predicted the same.• St Peter was a disciple of Jesus• Sponge dipped in vinegar increases thirst

2nd STANZA

Or you can take a length of steel,shaped and chased in a traditional way,and attempt to pierce the metal cage he wears.But for this you need white horses,English trees, men with bows and arrows,at least two flags, a prince, and acastle to hold your banquet in.

MEANING…….

• Medieval ages and their ways of killing• Wars were fought for crown and honour• “length of steel”- metal weapons• “metal cage”- armour• Reference to the Wars of Roses (1455-1485) - series of dynastic wars fought between

House of Lancaster and House of York (England)

3rd STANZA

Dispensing with nobility, you may, if the wind

allows, blow gas at him. But then you needa mile of mud sliced through with ditches,not to mention black boots, bomb craters,more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songsand some round hats made of steel

MEANING………..

• Reference to World War 1• Favourable wind conditions• Poisonous gas warfare used by the British on

the Germans in 1915 (plan backfired)• Horrors of World War, mud-blackened boots,

plagues, starvation, miserable living conditions• Patriotic songs to boost the morale

4th STANZA

In an age of aeroplanes, you may flymiles above your victim and dispose of him bypressing one small switch. All you thenrequire is an ocean to separate you, twosystems of government, a nation's scientists,several factories, a psychopath andland that no-one needs for several years

MEANING……..

• Emergence of the aeroplane and the atomic bomb

• Reference to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in Japan by USA (2nd World War)

• “ocean to separate”- cultural gap• “factories”- produce lethal weapons (atomic

bombs)• “psychopath”- Harry S. Truman (then US Pres)

5th STANZA

These are, as I began, cumbersome ways

to kill a man. Simpler, direct, and much more neatis to see that he is living somewhere in the middleof the twentieth century, and leave him there

MEANING……..

• Previous methods are all too cumbersome• Easiest method- leave someone in the middle

of 20th century• Reference to the post 2nd World War world

conditions• Poverty, malnutrition, hunger, unemployment• Dying every minute• Existing and not living

RESPONSES…….