The Act of Writing in Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam’ and Thackeray’s ‘Going to See a Man Hanged’? Victoria Joss College

Winston Churchill said that ‘the truth is incontrovertible’. This statement construes ‘truth’ as an absolute concept, where there is only one truth, and anything else is by definition a non-truth. Tennyson’s In Memoriam and Thackeray’s ‘Going to see a Man Hanged’ are certainly diverse in their genres; Tennyson’s words are a profound ode to a lost friend, whereas Thackeray’s article is a satirically disgusting account of a public event. Yet, both their acts of writing seek a truth, and not the absolute definition that Churchill specifies. Thackeray’s truth is based on presenting an accurate account of an event; it is literally telling the truth of what he sees before him, translating sight to word with little creative interpretation. Tennyson differs from this. His writing is not based on what he sees, but the grief he feels, and his truth is in being able to aptly express this when there seems no words fit to shape his emotions. Yet, another writer may express the same grief differently, or may indeed react differently to publicly viewing a man hanged. Therefore, perhaps the truth can only be incontrovertible to the person who expresses it. It is a truth specific to them, yet may not exist as a universal, absolute truth.

By...