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The Explorer
The story’s antagonist, the officer acts as judge, jury, and executioner in the penal colony and is the last person who adheres to the rule of law created by the old Commandant. The officer is obsessed with the apparatus, a machine created by the old Commandant to torture and kill prisoners. The officer also took part in the early development of the apparatus and demonstrates this fondness for the device through his loving attention to every detail of the machine, which literally etches a sentence onto the body of the condemned and as it slowly kills them over the course of twelve hours. In an effort to continue the way of life he’s known (and fiercely believes in), the officer gives a detailed explanation of the apparatus to the explorer, who he believes can convince the new Commandant to reinvest in apparatus and all it represents. The officer reflects an older, authoritarian society in which the few elite rule over the masses and use their authority to maintain power while cruelly inflicting punishment on anyone who breaks their rules. He does not give prisoners any chances to defend themselves, believing that anyone accused of a crime is guilty and that entertaining any counterarguments is a tedious and unnecessary part of a system of justice. At the end of the story, the officer maintains his allegiance to the old Commandant by sacrificially offering himself on the apparatus and sentencing himself to the crime of being unjust. This suggests a biblical parallel with Christ’s crucifixion, underscoring the fanaticism of the officer’s beliefs. In its final execution, however, the apparatus begins to break down, ultimately killing the officer by driving a spike through his head. The parallel fates of the officer and the machine demonstrate the finality of his system of justice.
The Officer Quotes in In the Penal Colony
The In the Penal Colony quotes below are all either spoken by The Officer or refer to The Officer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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In the Penal Colony Quotes
“For I was the former Commandant's assistant in all-penal matters and know more about the apparatus than anyone. My guiding principle is this: Guilt is never to be doubted. Other courts cannot follow that principle, for they consist of several opinions and have higher courts to scrutinize them.”
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Diverting from his tour of the apparatus, the officer takes a moment to explain the prisoner’s crime and the system of justice that he follows to the explorer. This is a system he learned from the old Commandant, one that enforces punishment for the sake of maintaining the social order rather than rehabilitation. In this aside, the officer reveals that the foundation of the traditional judicial system in the penal colony rests on the fact that guilt is assumed. Therefore, those accused of crimes—ostensibly always low status prisoners subject to the whims of other officers—are automatically guilty and have no Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque err
“Enlightenment comes to the most dull-witted. It begins around the eyes. From there it radiates. A moment that might tempt one to get under the Harrow oneself. Nothing more happens than that the man begins to understand the inscription, he purses his mouth as if he were listening. You have seen how difficult it is to decipher the script with one's eyes; but our man deciphers it with his wounds.”
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As the officer continues to explain the workings of the apparatus to the explorer, he points out a crucial part of the machine—the way it reveals “justice” to the prisoner. Instead of simply being told their sentence, the guilty learn the reason they are strapped to the apparatus through its excruciating work, which carves the sentence into their body with needles over and over again. What’s significant about this form of punishment is that its aim is not to offer any chance of rehabilitation or repentance to the person who committed an offense; their fate is clearly death. The reason Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inve
You are a foreigner, mind your own business. He could make no answer to that, unless he were to add that he was amazed at himself in this connection, for he traveled only as an observer, with no intention at all of altering other people's methods of administering justice. Yet here he found himself strongly tempted. The injustice of the procedure and the inhumanity of the execution were undeniable.
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The explorer, watching the officer and soldier begin to strap the prisoner to the apparatus, continues to have conflicted thoughts about his role in the proceedings. He wants to avoid conflict and assure himself he is simply a casual observer, yet he also understands that by not intervening he is complicit in an undeniable demonstration of cruelty. The explorer is struggling with his role in the penal colony as he is only guest, yet his Western sensibilities balk at the system of justice the officer has explained to him. The “inhumanity” of the procedure is a keen judgment against the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Mi
“He has calculated it carefully: this is your second day on the island, you did not know the old Commandant and his ways, you are conditioned by European ways of thought, perhaps you object on principle to capital punishment in general and to such mechanical instruments of death in particular…”
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The officer explains his theory about the schemes of the new Commandant to oust the use of the apparatus, and subsequently the officer’s entire system of justice, from the penal colony. Using the opinion of a famous guest like the explorer would enhance the new Commandant’s viewpoint and finally put the officer’s way of administering justice to an end. The officer cites the explorer’s “European ways of thought” as the reason for his potential objection to the apparatus. This reinforces the idea that the explorer, and the new Commandant, represent a liberal mindset that is oriented toward progress and way Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaq
“Of course the Commandant is the kind of man to have turned these conferences into public spectacles. He has had a gallery built that is always packed with spectators. I am compelled to take part in the conferences, but they make me sick with disgust.”
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The officer continues to rant about the new Commandant to the explorer and explains how the new leader has made changes to the way that society operates in the penal colony. In the past, residents of the penal colony would only participate in public life at the executions, crowding around the apparatus to watch prisoners be tortured. In contrast, the new Commandant invites the public to conferences where there is accountability and participation in civic life that doesn’t inherently involve death. This develops the notion that the new Commandant is aiming toward progress in a democratic manner that tries to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium
Now the officer began to spell it, letter by letter, and then read out the words. “‘BE JUST!’ is what is written there,” he said, “surely you can read it now.”
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Having resolved to become the final victim of the apparatus, the officer spells out his own sentence for the explorer, who is still pained to make out what is written on the slips of paper that direct the Harrow’s writing. By revealing the text, the officer is stating that his crime is injustice. From his perspective, the officer could not maintain the structures that would properly ensure justice. The fact that the explorer still cannot read the script, however, again suggests that understanding that this system is unintelligible to a progressive outsider. The officer is also imploring the explorer to, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veni
The explorer bit his lips and said nothing. He knew very well what was going to happen, but he had no right to obstruct the officer in anything. If the judicial procedure which the officer cherished were really so near its end—possibly as a result of his own intervention, as to which he felt himself pledged—then the officer was doing the right thing; in his place the explorer would not have acted otherwise.
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The explorer understands that the officer, having placed his sentence in the apparatus and stripped naked, is going to sacrifice himself and die for the system of justice he believes in so much. Despite his disgust for the apparatus, the explorer respects the conviction that binds the officer to his way of life. This conviction notably contrasts with the explorer’s own hesitancy to speak up throughout the story, suggesting that his own morals, however progressive, are more loosely held than those of the officer. The explorer’s thinking here again helps him rationalize his lack of action: he cannot disturb the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Pr
The condemned man especially seemed struck with the notion that some great change was impending. What had happened to him was now going to happen to the officer. Perhaps even to the very end. Apparently the foreign explorer had given the order for it. So this was revenge. Although he himself had not suffered to the end, he was to be revenged to the end. A broad, silent grin now appeared on his face and stayed there all the rest of the time.
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The prisoner, now freed from the apparatus, is slowly realizing that the officer is going to suffer the fate that was originally planned for himself. The dawning realization on the part of this member of the penal colony points to the bigger shift at work with the officer’s death—the social shift toward progress and away from the traditional authoritarian structures. The awakening of the prisoner also shows the extremity of the reversal of power at work as the officer dies. For the first time it appears that the prisoner is even able to formulate thoughts in response to things that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas.
[…] no sign was visible of the promised redemption; what the others had found in the machine the officer had not found; the lips were firmly pressed together, the eyes were open with the same expression as in life, the look was calm and convinced, through the forehead went the point of the great iron spike.
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In the officer’s final moments, the explorer sees that his face does not bear the mark of redemption that the officer had boasted comes with dying via the apparatus. Instead, the officer dies with conviction but no sense of being enlightened or redeemed. This is an ambiguous ending that could suggest redemption via apparatus is impossible and instead was a projection of the officer onto dying men. This system of justice is shown to be flawed and murderous instead of the pinnacle of human order that the officer believed in, and the officer dies without dignity. This implicitly undercuts his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque
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The Officer Character Timeline in In the Penal Colony
The timeline below shows where the character The Officer appears in In the Penal Colony. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
In the Penal Colony
An officer is proudly showing an explorer a machine called the apparatus, which will be used for...
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Proudly detailing the functions of the apparatus, the officer explains that he helped with the development of the delicate machine but credit for its...
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As the officer animatedly explains the various parts of the apparatus, its three different components—the Bed, the Designer,...
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...explorer, who becomes curious about the exact system of justice in the penal colony. The officer explains that he is both judge and executioner, that the prisoner had no defense, and...
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The officer continues to explain the exact nature of the prisoner’s crime: failing to wake up every...
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Ready to be finished with the tour, the explorer exudes distaste for the officer and his system by rationalizes the methods of execution to himself as “extraordinary measures” that...
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Showing the explorer the “most important” part of the execution, the officer carefully reveals the guiding plans of the apparatus. So precious that only the officer himself...
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Going into excruciating detail, the officer notes the tortured men are fed warm rice pap but lose the desire to eat...
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...the clothing of the prisoner, leaving him surprised and naked as the soldier and the officer secure him to the apparatus. As a strap on the machine breaks, the officer complains...
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As the officer and the soldier busy themselves with preparing the prisoner for execution, the explorer struggles with...
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The prisoner vomits. this further infuriates the officer, who says that the new Commandant has a “mild doctrine” because he does not starve...
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Whisking the explorer back to a better time, the officer describes the days of executions during the time of the old Commandant when there would...
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Embarrassed by the officer’s passion, the explorer remains quiet. Realizing it is quite hard to believe, the officer nonetheless...
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The officer continues to rant, pointing out that the explorer is probably thinking that in Europe they...
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The explorer’s resistance causes the officer to become even more fervent about the importance of preserving the apparatus. He bluntly pleads...
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...steadfast in his convictions, the explorer says he is “touched” by the conviction of the officer but refuses to help him maintain the apparatus and the system it represents. The officer...
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Admonishing the prisoner for being rough with the apparatus, the officer spells out his own sentence—"BE JUST!”—and shows it to the explorer. As with the previous...
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The officer quickly and stoically strips naked, breaks his sword, and climbs onto the apparatus. The explorer...
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After a brief bit of wrestling with the soldier, the prisoner, upon seeing the officer naked, realizes a change is at hand and “grins” at the revenge about to take...
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The explorer finally decides to act once he realizes the officer’s death will be “plain murder” rather than “exquisite torture.” Attempting in vain to free the...
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