Short Fiction · Chapter
I: At One O’Clock, Your Excellency! explained
The Minister is tormented by the knowledge of a planned assassination at one o'clock the next day.
What happens
The Minister is tormented by the knowledge of a planned assassination at one o'clock the next day. He cannot sleep, haunted by the phrase 'At one o'clock in the afternoon, your Excellency!' which transforms the hour into a menacing black pole. He reflects on the terror of knowing the time of death, concluding that ignorance is bliss. His fear shifts from the assassins to sudden natural death, and he suffers a collapse, prompting a summons for the doctor and his wife.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
The Minister's obsessive fear of death, both from assassination and natural causes, dominates the chapter. The knowledge of a specific death hour becomes unbearable.
Truth and Deception
The Minister grapples with the 'truth' of the assassination plot, which he sees as a deception that robs him of the bliss of ignorance. He curses the fools who told him the truth.
Madness and Rationality
The Minister's rational thoughts about death and ignorance are undermined by his irrational terror, hallucinations of the black pole, and the gramophone-like repetition of the phrase, suggesting a descent into near-madness.
Characters to notice
- The Minister
The central character, a high-ranking official tormented by the knowledge of an assassination plot. He experiences intense fear of death, insomnia, and a physical collapse.
Key passages
“At one o'clock in the afternoon, your Excellency!”
The assassination is planned for one o'clock tomorrow.
This phrase haunts the Minister, symbolizing the fixed time of his potential death.
“It is not death that is terrible, but the knowledge of it”
The fear comes from knowing when death will occur, not from death itself.
The Minister's key realization about the nature of his terror.