“Unsteadfast footing”
The man (as described by the author) was standing with his hands tied behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. He stood on his knees and an unsteady board was the only thing that kept him alive. He couldn’t even move, because it would mean a falling from this board. So, everything that left to him was just staying sill and looking down at the stream of running water and thinking about his wife and children. The worst thing he could imagine at the moment was losing his “unsteadfast” footing which was ironic because that was exactly about to happen very soon. Of, course, this board was unsteady, it was meant to be like that to be easily removed and there is no reason to complain about it.
Slave owner – in other words politician
The protagonist of the story - Peyton Farquhar - was a rich slave owner from Alabama, says the narrator in his depiction. And, he adds, that just like all slave owners, he was a politician. This generalization understates the importance of such politicians because their main interest lies in promoting their ideas and paralyzing the anti slave movements. So, that makes clear, why he was judged to teath by the soldiers – because of his position in the society and so called “political” activities. The narrator doesn’t state whether he was a good or bad politician, not he underlines his good deeds for a society which makes his status “politician” ironic.
To die from hanging at the bottom of the river!
This statement is an irony itself – it shows the nonsense of the possible situation, which happened to our protagonist. He was engaged to death by hanging but the rope had broken and he appeared at the bottom of the river. The fate played a bad joke with him, but, on the other side, if he didn’t fell into the river, would be dead now. In this case, the joke wasn’t that bad. At least, there was a hope for saving, but if he wont get out of the river in a few minutes he would possibly die because he is a bad swimmer (with tied hands), as it happened: “"To be hanged and drowned," he thought, "that is not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; that is not fair."
What a splendid effort!
Anyway, Mr. Farquhar was struggling for living. His hands were tied and it was hard for him to swim in that way. He was trying to free his hands but it was quite difficult operation while sinking. He gave the struggle his attention, as an idler might observe the feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome. “What splendid effort!—what magnificent, what superhuman strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! Bravo!” The irony is used for creating the humorous situation or, at the first sight, a dreadful situation. It highlights man’s struggle for life and depicts his efforts to save himself from death.
