Student Question

How does Edwin Brock create an ironic tone in "Five Ways to Kill a Man"?

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Edwin Brock creates an ironic tone in "Five Ways to Kill a Man" with his simple, deadpan descriptions of scenes from history and myth, beginning with the crucifixion of Christ. The irony is heightened with his laconic shopping lists in the second half of each stanza, enumerating the various elements present in each method of killing. The effect is of someone sharing a recipe, or the assembly instructions for a piece of furniture, rather than describing a murder.

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In "Five Ways to Kill a Man," Edwin Brock creates an ironic tone by describing various iconic tableaux of death from myth and history in a simple, matter-of-fact tone, appending a deadpan shopping list of the items necessary to kill a man in this way. He sounds as though he is relaying instructions to assemble flatpack furniture or sharing a recipe. For instance, in the first stanza, he describes the crucifixion of Christ, unsentimentally listing the details of the story that takes place in the gospels, from the sponge filled with vinegar to the crowing cock. In the second stanza, he refers to the sword of a knight as "a length of steel" and his armor as "the metal cage he wears."

By grounding the poem in ancient history and myth, Brock brings out the absurd elements in more recent methods of killing: releasing poison gas and dropping bombs. The irony grows more bitter as the poet describes ever more destructive methods of killing. While crucifixion and single combat take place at close quarters and are soon over, bombing requires an ocean to separate the warring parties, as well as "land that no one needs for several years." By the time the poet arrives at the abbreviated final stanza, the ironic tone is well established as the poem stops suddenly without a final list. There is no need to enumerate the dangers of being human in the middle of the twentieth century, since these dangers are everywhere.

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