Short Fiction · Chapter
Condemned to Be Hanged explained
Five young terrorists are swiftly and secretly tried in a fortress for possession of bombs and dynamite.
What happens
Five young terrorists are swiftly and secretly tried in a fortress for possession of bombs and dynamite. They face the verdict with varying degrees of calm, fear, and defiance, while the trial proceedings highlight their contempt for the judges and their absorption in thoughts of death and the spring sky.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
The chapter centers on the condemned terrorists' anticipation of execution, their varying confrontations with death, and the physical signs of fear and resignation.
Freedom and Imprisonment
The contrast between the prisoners' physical confinement and their mental escape to the spring sky, as well as their defiance of the judges, underscores the theme of imprisonment versus inner freedom.
Characters to notice
- Sergey Golovin
A young ex-officer, broad-shouldered and strong, who looks out the window at the spring sky, struggling between joy in life and the gloom of death.
- Musya
A pale, grave young woman with a melodious voice, who gazes at the sky as the purest object in the hall, showing no fear.
- Werner
A calm, powerful figure with a closed face, regarded as the leader by the judges; he speaks briefly and reassures the others.
- Vasily Kashirin
A twenty-three-year-old terrorist torn by a desperate fear of death, struggling to control his trembling and sweating, appearing corpse-like.
- Tanya Kovalchuk
A motherly young woman who ignores the trial, focusing instead on the emotional state of her comrades, ready to give water or comfort.
Key passages
“Four terrorists, three men and a woman, armed with bombs, infernal machines and revolvers, were seized at the very entrance of the house, and another woman was later found and arrested in the house where the conspiracy had been hatched.”
The police captured four terrorists—three men and one woman—carrying bombs and revolvers at the house entrance, and later arrested a fifth woman, the mistress of the house where the plot was formed.
Describes the initial arrests leading to the trial.
“Their contempt for the judges was so intense that none of them wished to emphasize his daring by even a superfluous smile or by a feigned expression of cheerfulness.”
The terrorists' disdain for the judges was so deep that they refused to show any bravado or false cheerfulness.
Highlights the defendants' attitude during the trial.
“The man who was nearest to the judges called himself Sergey Golovin, the son of a retired colonel, himself an ex-officer.”
The defendant closest to the judges identified himself as Sergey Golovin, a former officer and son of a retired colonel.
Introduces Sergey Golovin.