Poetry · Chapter
An Imposter explained
The narrator excoriates Carnegie as a hypocrite and 'Great King of Cant,' wishing for a place so remote that even his empty rhetoric would be silenced.
What happens
The narrator excoriates Carnegie as a hypocrite and 'Great King of Cant,' wishing for a place so remote that even his empty rhetoric would be silenced.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The narrator directly accuses Carnegie of playing the 'solemn hypocrite,' equating his moral posturing with devilry.
Deception and Self-Deception
Carnegie's self-justification is portrayed as a form of deception, blurring distinctions between right and wrong.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The narrator delivers a bitter invective against Carnegie.
Key passages
“Must you, Carnegie, evermore explain Your worth, and all the reasons give again Why black and red are similarly white And you and God identically right?”
Carnegie constantly defends his actions, twisting morality to make himself appear infallible.
The narrator mocks Carnegie's relentless self-justification and moral equivalence.
“Great King of Cant! if Nature had but made Your mouth without a tongue I ne'er had prayed To have an earless head.”
If Carnegie were born mute, the narrator would not wish to be deaf; but since he speaks, the narrator longs for silence.
A hyperbolic wish to escape Carnegie's hypocritical speech.