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Five Ways to Kill a Man

Edwin Brock

One need only turn on the evening news to get a sense of the tragic state of world affairs, especially
during times of war. Yet even before the invention of television or print photography, war and killing
were integral parts of the human social and political experience. Edwin Brock captures a variety of
images of and reactions to war, death, and degradation in his poem "Five Ways to Kill a Man." Using
satire, historical references, and intense imagery, Brock conveys the unfortunate, inescapable reality
of war and inhuman behavior. Furthermore, the final stanza of the poem emphasizes the particularly
brutal nature of the wars occurring in the twentieth century, which Brock perceives as being a
particularly lethal time. Brock writes not necessarily to evoke an emotional reaction in his readers; in
fact, he reports on his subject matter almost with detached awareness and rationality. "There are
many cumbersome ways to kill a man," the poem opens. Among these ways include crucifixion,
jousting, gassing, and airplane bombing. The purpose of Brock's poem, however, is not simply to
describe and explain modes of war and killing. Rather, the poet intends to made modern social
commentary, as he concludes, "Simpler, direct,
Born in South London in 1927, Edwin Brock grew up in a turbulent (disorderly) working class family
with no literary aspirations. He won a scholarship to a local grammar school but his formal education ended
after he gained his School Certificate. After his education he worked as a police constable and an advertising
copywriter until 1972, when he became a freelance writer. Brocks interest in poetry was inspired by a
paperback anthology of modern verse which he picked up idly as a bored 18-year old, waiting to be
demobbed (Retire from military service) from the Royal Navy at the end of the Second World War. This
chance encounter in Hong Kong was to prove revelatory and from then on Brock, completely self-taught,
began to write his own poems. Gradually he started to get his poem published, firstly in the smaller magazines
and eventually in the Times Literary Supplement.
Edwin Brock's death in 1997, just before his 70th birthday, brought to an end a body of poems which
had first been noticed in the late 1950s in the USA as well as in Britain. Sharp, colloquial, shrewd, direct and
often humorous, Brock's poems are highly original. Two of them, 'Five Ways to Kill a Man and 'Song of the
Battery Hen', are among the best-known poems of the twentieth century. 'Five Ways to Kill a Man' is one of
the most anthologized poems of the last thirty years and that unforgettable blend of the laconic (Brief and to
the point) and the serious is what became instantly recognizable as the Brock voice.
His earlier collections of poetry include An Attempt at Exorcism (1959), A Family Affair (1960), and
With Love from Judas (1963) which contain numerous disquietingly intense treatments of domestic
experience. A Cold Day at the Zoo (1970), The Blocked Heart (1975), and The River and the Train (1979) are
among his subsequent volumes; Song of the Battery Hen (1977) and Five Ways To Kill a Man (1990) are
selected editions, the latter containing much previously uncollected verse. His other works include the
autobiographical verse and prose of Here Now, Always (1977) and the novel The Little White God (1962). He
has also written plays for radio and television.

A short review:
This poem by Edwin Brock is often considered a poem against war, whereas in fact it is a poem about
the loss of humanity. It is written much like an instruction guide or recipe book, telling the reader the manner in
which a man can be efficiently killed. Each stanza deals with one method of killing; each one distancing the
killer further from his victim, till in the last stanza there is neither killer nor victim, but just a living death.
In the first stanza the crucifixion of Jesus is referred to. Here the reader is told that all that is required
is a plank of wood and some nails and hammer to drive them home. This deliberately dead pan and
emotionless tone underlines the lack of humanity that is fast becoming the hall mark of current war
fare with its references to "collateral damage", a conveniently clinical term for civilian casualties.
In the second stanza the poet uses the War of Roses as a way to illustrate how wars were fought for
the sake of crown and honour, whereas there was nothing noble in the brutal hand to hand warfare using
common agricultural tools like bill hooks axes and hammers that pierced armour with ease. The armour is
called "a metal cage", the weapons "shaped and chased in a traditional way. All you need is a prince, two
flags (representing the Houses of York and Lancaster) and the English countryside marred with the killings of
battle. You require a castle to hold your banquet in to celebrate your victory while the brutal and
ignoble nature of this war is hidden in the image of "white horses" and "English trees".
In the next stanza we are told that we may dispense with nobility altogether as the poet brings our
attention to the cruel practise of gas warfare in the First World War. "...you may if the wind allows, blow gas at
him..." sounds as harmless as a child blowing bubbles or at the most someone blowing cigarette smoke in
your face. In 1915 when the British used gas cylinders to send Chlorine gas towards the German front lines
the wind direction changed and the gas came back to poison the British soldiers. In this stanza the poet
brings our attention to the other horrors of trench warfare, as he says to kill a man in this way you
also need bomb craters, a mile of mud, a plague of rats. This sounds exactly like a list of ingredients
for a recipe.
As we dehumanize ourselves further in the fourth stanza we are told we may fly miles about our victim
and "dispose" of him by pressing a small switch. But now we require an ocean to separate us, two different
ideologies and scientists and a psychopath. This is an obvious reference to the bombings of Hiroshima and

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Five Ways to Kill a Man

Edwin Brock

Nagasaki in World War II. We are left with "land that no one needs for several years", as if that was the
end of this exercise. However the argument is succinctly (With concise and precise brevity) clinched in the
last stanza of the poem in just four lines. These methods after all are too cumbersome and it is far simpler and
more direct to see that our victim is living somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century and leave him
there.
This the most telling part of this poem. We find here the hopelessness of life as we know it today. We
must kill our humanity to survive in the world of today, with daily news reports of children dying of disease
and malnutrition, people becoming victims of religious intolerance, suicide attacks, honour killings,
suicides due to joblessness in developing countries and the sheer scale of human idiocy in
destroying its own race. We have had to desensitize ourselves to this daily onslaught of pain in order to
survive and in so doing we are in fact slowly dying. It is too painful to shed tears over every mining victim,
every bombast victim, every woman stigmatized. So we kill ourselves, we kill our hopes and our very
desire to live. We become as mechanical as the tone of this poem in our efforts to deal with the horrors of
daily life, with that accident we see during rush hour, with the child victim of some pedophile (An adult who is
sexually attracted to children) we see on the news. We learn to numb our pain in a world full of pin-pricks. In
doing so we may as well be dead.
In short this poem, is brutally simple, its tone clinical to the point of instructional prose, and
yet it does so well what Wordsworth said a poem must, appear to the reader as a remembrance of his
own highest thoughts. The average man today is helpless in the face of what a few misguided leaders are
doing to destroy humanity, and this poem voices for us this frustration and this bitter truth. Millions of
protestors all around the world could not dissuade America and Britain from attacking Iraq. This poem stands
witness to how our hopes and the voice of humanity can be easily silenced. In doing so it urges us to
speak up against our spiritual death and resurrect our dying humanity.

Paraphrase:
The poem, Five Ways to Kill a Man by Edwin Brock mocks at the dehumanization of man. The poem
describes the various ways that man has used, beginning from the ancient times to the 20th century, to kill
other human beings. The methods he has used are crucifixion, lancing, gassing, bombing etc.
Stanza 1
The poet says that there are many complicated and weird ways to kill a man. One can make the
victim carry a long piece of wooden cross to the top of a hill and nail him to it. In order to do this a crowd of
people, a cock crowing, a cloak for the victim, some vinegar, a sponge and a hammer to nail the man to the
cross are required.
This is a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. Jesus was forced to
carry a heavy cross up to Golgotha hill to be crucified. A big hostile crowd accom panied him and humiliated
him at every stage. The crowd watching the scene had no humanity or feelings as they participated in the
crucifixion of Jesus. The victim Jesus was asked to remove his cloak before the execution so that instead of a
proper grave, his corpse would be left on top of the hill for birds and animals to feed on him. As the painful
drama went on Jesus asked for water to drink, and they offered a spongeful of vinegar instead. They got a
hammer to nail him to the cross.
Cumbersome: awkward, complicated, burdensome; troublesome. unwieldy; clumsy
Hill: Golgotha, a hill in Israel where Jesus was crucified.
A cock that crows: a reference to Peter, a disciple of Jesus, who refused to recognise Jesus three times
when he was asked. Jesus predicted that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed and it really
happened.
a cloak to dissect: Jesus, while carrying the cross, was wearing a cloak. Before they crucified him they
removed the cloak and they divided the garment by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
a sponge, some vinegar: while on the cross Jesus asked for water and was given vinegar on a sponge
Stanza 2:
The second stanza tells of the times when knights used to duel on white horses during the medieval
times. The poet uses the War of Roses as a way to show how wars were fought for the sake of crown and
honour. There is nothing noble in the brutal hand to hand warfare using swords, axes and hammers that
pierce the armours that they wear. The armour the soldier wears is called 'a metal cage' and the weapons
made in a traditional way like swords and spears are used in the battle. For such a war all you need is a
prince, two flags (representing the Houses of York and Lancaster) and the English countryside marred with the
killings of battle. You require a castle to hold your banquet in to celebrate your victory while the brutal and
ignoble (shameful) nature of this war is hidden in the image of 'white horses' and 'English trees'.
The poet refers to the Wars of the Roses (1455-85) in English history where a series of dynastic civil
wars were fought between the House of Lancaster and York for the English throne. They fought with bows and
arrows on the English countryside on white horse backs. There were two princes of Lancaster and York and
their respective flags waiting for a victorious banquet in a castle.

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Five Ways to Kill a Man

Edwin Brock

a length of steel: any weapon made of iron for fighting, like sword, bow and arrow, spear, etc.
metal cage: armours soldiers wear when they fight in a combat. Metal cage is a metaphor for human body.
white horses, English trees: reference to the Wars of the Roses (1455-85) fought between House of
Lancaster and York for the English throne.
Two flags: reference to the flags of two kingdoms of Lancaster and York
Stanza 3:
The third stanza is an allusion to the World War I. This is obvious through the description of the
weaponry as well as the conditions and strategies being used in the poem. The poet mentions 'blow gas at
him'. The reference here is to the poisonous gas that was used in the First World War. The British used gas
cylinders to send chlorine gas towards the German frontlines during the First World War, but the wind direction
changed, and the chlorine gas poisoned the British soldiers instead. The First World War was trench warfare.
Trenches were like ditches that the soldiers hid in to escape from enemy shelling. They used gas masks to
protect themselves from the toxic gases. Gas was denser on the ground level where the soldiers hid. They
struggled through the muddy ditches in their black boots. They had to walk long distances in the muddy tracks
in the trenches and faced rats all along the way in their effort for survival.
Dispensing with nobility: leaving out the kings and princes. Third stanza is shifted to the scene of World
War I.
blow gas at them: during the World War I poisonous gas was used against the enemies.
ditches: trenches used in the World War I
round hats made of steel: gas masks used by the soldiers dozen songs: patriotic songs
Stanza 4:
The fourth stanza is an allusion to the modern day warfare with much more technologically advanced
weapon systems. It shows the reader how easy it is to kill and how little thought it takes. In the age of
aeroplanes it is easy to fly over the target and press one switch to eliminate them. The poet says that at this
time there were countries with different systems of government geographically separated by an ocean in
between. They encouraged groups of dedicated scientists to develop them on and several factories to
produce them on in a large scale. It only needed a mad man to drop atomic weapons on a land that remained
uninhabitable for several years. This is an obvious reference to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
during the Second World War. This stanza makes the reader think about the kind of violence that is
characteristic of modern warfare and how society has degenerated into something that is insensitive to the
intensity of violence that goes on.
age of aeroplanes: reference to the World War II
pressing one small switch: reference to the Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombing during the World War II.
Psychopath: mad person; a person with an anti-social personality disorder; reference to Hitler
Stanza 5:
In the previous four stanzas the poet has shown the different ways to kill a man. Now he presents a
situation that developed in the middle of the twentieth century which is simpler and a more direct way to kill a
man and is more gruesome than the previous ones. The middle of the twentieth century is the period that
followed the end of the Second World War. The after effects of that war took a toll on individuals, families and
countries in many ways. The economic ruin after the war and mistrust among nations that led to Cold War
resulted in an overall feeling of impending doom during this time. That situation, according to the poet, is even
worse than the killing wars of earlier times.
leave him there: leaving somebody in the middle of the 20th century in the Cold War time is the fifth way of
killing a man. It refers to the overall feeling of impending doom during this time which is the fifth way of killing.

Critical appreciation:
Five Ways to Kill a Man makes a startling beginning which starts to grip the attention of curious
reader. It doesnt merely interest a criminal who wants to learn the different methods of killing a man. The
general wonders what the poet has to say on such a subject. Instead of explaining the technique of killing, the
poet traces the history of mans cruelty through the ages. He has been using deadly violence in cold blood, in
a planned way. So, it is A Scathing Satire on the cruelty of mankind. In an ironical tone, the poet describes
the five ways to kill a man. He says there was a time when the enemy was killed with the sword or an arrow.
Then poisonous gas and bombs were used to kill people. Atom bombs were thrown from air to kill the whole
population. The latest way to kill a man is to live him in a life of anguish and alienation.
These are as I began, cumbersome ways to kill a man. / Simpler, direct and much more neat is to
see / that he is living somewhere in the middle / of the twentieth century, and leave him there.
The poet has used a matter of fact style in treating such a serious subject relating to life and death.
This has given to the poem its necessary satirical tone. It brings home the bitter truth we in the present age
are more dead than living. We have the essence of human character. This poem is written in blank verse
without any rhyme.

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Five Ways to Kill a Man

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Theme:

Five Ways to Kill a Man focuses on the loss of humanity in man with every passing era. He ironically
remarks that there are five ways to kill the enemy. The poem describes the methods used by man to kill other
men for his own selfish motives. The first stanza talks about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the second is
about the medieval age when soldiers used deadly swords and arrows, the third and fourth stanzas talk about
the First and Second World War, respectively. In the World War II, Hitlers henchmen used poisonous gas and
bombs to kill the enemy. The forth method to kill the enemy is to throw atom bomb to decimate (destroy) the
whole population. The fifth method to kill the enemy is very simple and easy. The victims lives somewhere in
the middle of the twentieth century and live him there to die of loneliness.
The poet wants to convey a message through this poem. He wants to say that man has become
devoid of emotions and sympathy. Man has developed newer scientific methods which has made killing easier
and faster. People kill one another, physically or mentally to survive in the world today. Children are dying of
hunger, malnutrition and diseases. People have to endure pain in order to survive and therefore, they are
dying a slow death. In a sarcastic and satirical tone, he says that the easiest way to kill the men is to leave
him to die of alienation and anguish. Thus the poem wants to highlight the fact that though man acquired new
methods to discover, create but the basic human tendency to kill remain unchanged.

Form and Language:

The poem is composed in free verse with no end rhyming scheme. The descriptions of the ways of
killing a man are chronologically arranged. Each stanza depicts one possible way to kill a man. Every stanza
except the last stanza consists of run-on lines. Run-on lines suggest that the rhythm does not conform to any
structure and is free flowing. The poem is written in a simple language to describe the different ways to kill a
man. The words are used cold and blunt. The words used to describe the crucifixion of Christ depict the lack
of humanity and emotionless nature of man.

Literary device:
Allusion: Passing reference or indirect mention.
There are several allusions in the poem, Five Ways to Kill a Man.
(a) The first stanza of the poem alludes to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is done by describing the
method by which Jesus was crucified. He was forced to carry a plank of wood up to Golgotha hill. On the way,
a big hostile crowd accompanied him and humiliated him. He was tortured and nailed to the cross where he
eventually died.
(b) The second stanza refers to the traditional Wars of Roses to illustrate how wars were fought in England
and Europe for the sake of crown and honour during the medieval age.
(c) The third stanza refers to gas warfare in the First World War.
(d) The fourth stanza refers to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in
August 1945, by the USA.
Alliteration: The examples of the alliteration are as follows:
cock that crows
mile of mud
small switch

hammer the nails home

black boots
much more

Assonance: The repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words
Example of assonance is:
bows and arrows
Personification: ......if the wind allows, blow gas at him is an example of fine personification.
Hyperbole: Extravagant exaggeration:
and attempt to pierce the metal cage he wears is an example of a hyperbole to define the cruel
acts of killing a man.
Symbols:
(a) Poetry cannot do without symbols. All killings are the symbol of cruelty, insensitivity and intolerance. The
scene of crucifixion is described in detail. It is the symbol of the worst kind of ruthlessness and barbarity.
(b) All wars of the past symbolise a murderous instinct, a kind of bloodthirstiness.
(c) The dropping of the atom bomb is a symbol of cold, calculated and callous attitude towards humanity.
Imagery:
(a) The poem is remarkable for its imagery. The scenes of violence are vividly described. The images linger in
the mind of the reader. The way Christ carries the cross to the top of the hill and the way he was nailed to it
produces an unforgettable image. There are images of warriors wearing their metal armour and the sharp
edged spears and swords made to pierce that armour, all this when man kills man. Visual imagery.
(b) Wearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloak to dissect, a sponge Visual and auditory imagery.

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Five Ways to Kill a Man

Edwin Brock

1. Critically evaluate the poem 'Five Ways to Kill a Man bringing out the theme and the literary
features that make it one of the best known poems of the twentieth century.
Edwin Brock's 'Five Ways to Kill a Man' is a satirical poem that questions the human attitude of
brutally killing other people to satisfy one's greed. The poet examines the different ways used by man in the
past to take the lives of others.
The poet shows the crucifixion of Christ in the beginning of the first century and presents how
inhuman the process of torture and death was. Then he moves to the middle ages in England to show the
incentive for fighting and annihilating the enemy. He follows it up with the two World Wars in the twentieth
century. There is a surprising twist in the fifth way to kill a man in the middle of the twentieth century.
From the perspective of major historical eras, the poet shows the perfecting of the art of warfare and
the withdrawal of human contact in killing of human beings physically. The keyword, 'cumbersome', is almost
forgotten as the killing becomes technologically easier and impersonal. But the last way is the most heinous
and deadly one because it is the spirit that is attacked. The words '.. .and leave him there' in the last stanza
means certainty of death in the time when we live. This poem is about human destruction and human
tendency to intensify the means of destruction through the ages.
Brock shows no emotion throughout so that he can create a dull feel toward humanity. The poem
suggests that today's society cares nothing for the value of life itself; thus Brock shows no emotion to promote
the idea. The final stanza once again refers to the lack of care for life stating that placing someone
'somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century' is a 'Simpler, direct and much more neat' way to kill a
man. Brock shows just how inhumane society is and has been since the death of Christ while also displaying
how heartless and horrifying today's world has become.
This poem has a sarcastic tone to it. The poet shows no emotions or opinions in this poem. And that
sort of a technique makes an impact that when people kill each other, they do not gain pressing a small
switch.' This is a reference to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ingredients required for this
sort of strategy to kill are 'an ocean to separate you, two systems of government, a nation's scientists, several
factories, a psychopath.' Ideological differences, dedicated scientists to invent weapons and factories for their
mass production and the countries located at two different shores of an ocean are the requirements for the
brutality that we witnessed during the Second World War. The devastation caused by the war leaves the af fected land useless for several years.
At the end of the poem the poet very cleverly presents that these are very cumbersome ways of killing
a man. He presents an alternative simpler way in the last four lines of the poem. It is far simpler and more
direct to see that our victim is living somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century. You just need to leave
him where he is. The time and space will take care of him. This is the most telling part of the poem. The poet
suggests that life in the middle of twentieth century is a living death. The various causes that trouble the world
today, the hopelessness of life as we know it today, and the general tendency to kill humanity to survive in the
world of today is the world we see in the middle of the twentieth century. We have to desensitize ourselves to
this onslaught of the trouble of the times in order to survive and in so doing we are in fact slowly dying. So we
kill ourselves, we kill our hopes and our very desire to live. We become as mechanical as the tone of this
poem in our efforts to deal with the horrors of daily life. We learn to numb our pain in a world full of pin-pricks.
In doing so we may as well be dead.
The poem is simple but meaningful and relevant to the contemporary world we live in. The poet shows
the evolution of the desire to kill and the manifestation of the killing from the time of Jesus Christ some two
thousand years ago to the present day. We see over a period of time how human nature added to the ferocity
of the killing and how inhuman it has become. Ultimately various factors compounded together to make
everyday life a living death. The poet has brought to our mind the growth and development of the human
nature and call upon us to reflect and take measures to rectify the condition that we see today.
2. Man's Destructive Nature, A Comparison of Wilfred Owen's poem 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' and the
Edwin Brock's poem 'Five Ways to Kill a Man'. OR Discusses the different ways in which Wilfred
Owen and Edwin Brock consider the same topic, man's inhumanity to man in their poems.
The poem by Wilfred Owen, 'Dulce Et Decorum Est', and Edwin Brock's poem, 'Five Ways to Kill a
Man', both condemn man's destructive nature, although this is written in an entirely different manner by both
of them. Both the poems thematically emphasize killing, destruction, pain, and suffering, although Owen writes
in a serious, and tragic manner, whereas Brock uses a more ironic and humorous tone. Both the poets use
different tone and they show their disgust for man's nature which reveals the dark side of man. The poets also
make strong use of sound devices imagery to reveal their message.
Both the poets express their anger towards the desolation between men. In 'Dulce Et Decorum Est',
the speaker is Wilfred Owen, he is very emotional. This is due to the anger he feels towards the politicians
who send young men to war, saying that 'it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country'.
Reading both the poems give us an impression that both have similar themes, that war is just
ridiculous; there is nothing glorious or good about killing people. Poetic devices are used to create certain
feelings among the reader. These two poems were written at different times and there is a gap of about forty
years between them. This difference shows quite clearly in the structure of the poems and the way they are

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written. 'Five Ways to Kill a Man' is a modern poem; its structure is not regular, although there are usually
seven lines in a stanza. Whereas, we find that Owen wrote the poem very much in the style used by most of
the poets of his time. It is written in a very traditional and old-fashioned way. We can see that the whole poem
is written in iambic pentameter.
Brock uses no names in the poem but there are many connotations. 'You can make him carry a plank
of wood to the top of a hill and nail him to it', 'a nation's scientists, several factories and a psychopath' are
examples of connotation. If we do not know that he is talking about Jesus Christ and Hitler then the poem
loses most of its message.
Both the poems specifically refer to the World War I where poison gas was used by the warring
countries where the soldiers died in hundreds instantly.
Wilfred Owen presents the gas attack in the following lines:
'Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! -An ecstasy of fumbling, / Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; / But
someone still was yelling out and stumbling / And floundering like a man in fire or lime / Dim, through
the misty panes and thick green light'.
Edwin Brock presents the gas attack in the following lines: if the wind
allows, blow gas at him. But then you need / a mile of mud sliced through with ditches, / not to
mention black boots, bomb craters, / more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songs and /some round hats
made of steel.
In Owen's poem there is someone warning of gas and is calling the soldiers 'boys' adding to the
horrific pictures as to show that they are young, then goes on to tell of the death of one of these 'boys' when
he cannot get his mask on. Powerful images are used to describe this event like: 'he plunges at me,
guttering, choking, drowning'. This line has great effect as it gives you the picture of someone drowning but
you know there is only gas so the words 'choking' and 'drowning' show that it is the effect the gas is having
on him and he is going through a slow, painful death. Wilfred Owen keeps using words like 'we' or I showing
that these things happened to him personally and such horrible ways of dying and suffering really happened to
these soldiers he talks of. The poet describes the gruesome effects of the gas on man and concludes that, if
one were to see firsthand the reality of war, one might not repeat the high sounding words like 'it is sweet and
fitting to die for one's country.'
The third stanza of 'Five Ways to Kill a Man' is an allusion to World War I. The 'blow gas' is poison gas
used during the war, the ditches are trenches and the hats are masks worn by soldiers. Trench warfare was
introduced in the First World War. Edwin Brock uses many effective poetic techniques to produce a bleak view
of mankind's future. Throughout, the poet uses word choice, striking imagery and sentence structure to
effectively create a picture in our mind of how to complete that particular method of killing a man.
The poem presents us with five 'cumbersome' ways to kill a man and guides us through each way.
The last stanza brings in a different idea from the historic killings the poem had alluded to in the beginning.
Instead of a notorious killing in life, it suggests that 'simpler, direct, and much more neat (way of killing) is to
see that he is living somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, and leave him there'. This stanza
means that by having a person living in the twentieth century, it is just another way to kill a man along with the
other four ways of killing. The last stanza is the shortest as it shows how uncomplicated and simple it is to just
leave a man in the twentieth century and let him die.
Wilfred Owen and Edwin Brock discuss the different ways in which each poem considers the same
topic, man's inhumanity to man. Both the poems are against war and about the loss of humanity due to war.
Brock's poem symbolizes different ways in the past that one person or people have killed another person or
people. The poem has a personal connection to the poet because Edwin Brock was in a war early in his life.
Wilfred Owen himself was a soldier who fought and died in the World War I. He wanted to rebut the notion that
war is a noble and glorious pursuit.
3. The poet disapproves individual killing and all wars. Do you agree ?
The poet describes the various ways to kill a man. He does so with a purpose. Though the description
shows no touch of personal emotion, the reader does feel the desired effect. The poet is a finished artist, and
he does not convey any direct message. But even through his matter-of-fact style, he makes his intention
clear. He traces the history of violence. He highlights the horror perpetrated by man on man. Man always
knew how to kill a man. His methods changed from age to age. They were simple and crude in the beginning.
They became more and more sophisticated with the passage of time. The climax was reached when a single
bomb dropped on a city caused widespread destruction. Thousands of men, women and children were killed
or maimed for life. That was when the atom bomb was dropped on each of the two cities of Japan.
On the top of the list of killing is the crucifixion of Jesus. If you want to kill a man, you can adopt the
same method as was used when Christ was put to death. He was made to carry a heavy cross to the top of a
hill. There he was nailed to it. Perhaps he was paraded through the town when a crowd of hostile people
gathered round him. They accompanied him to the hill top and callously watched his crucifixion. So the poet
suggests that you can kill a man by nailing him to a plank of wood. All you need is to provide a crowd of
people wearing sandals, a cock that crows to announce the day-break, a cloak for the victim, some vinegar, a
sponge, and an executioner to hammer the nails to pin him to the wooden plank.

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There was another method used by men in the past to kill a man. They fought between themselves,
wearing armour for protection and sharp steel weapons to pierce that armour. To create the whole atmosphere
of the bygone ages, you need white horses, English trees, men with bows and arrows to shoot, at least two
flags representing two opposing forces, a prince to command them, and a castle to hold your feast to
celebrate your victory.
The poet then comes to a more sophisticated way to get rid of the enemy swiftly. As it happened in the
beginning of the twentieth century, the First World War used gas. When the wind was favourable, they blew
the gas at the enemy, suffocating and killing him without the use of a single bullet. That kind of war
presupposes the presence of mud-filled trenches, black boots, craters created by the bursting of bombs,
disease spread by rats, and a dozen patriotic songs to motivate the soldiers for the war.
The scene of the Second World War was grimmer still. One could kill the victim while flying high in the
sky in an aeroplane. He could conduct his assault by simply pressing one small switch to release the bombs
attached to the plane. For that he would need to countries geographically separated by an ocean, and having
different systems of government, scientists who make more and more deadly bombs, factories where these
bombs are manufactured. Above all, you need a man with an unsound mind and one who is prone to violence.
He will order the dropping of the bombs and render the land below unproductive for years to come.
After having described all the different methods used in the past, the poet comes to the conclusion
that they are cumbersome methods to kill a man. There is one very easy, sure and direct method to achieve
that aim. You see this man living somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, and leave him there. No
effort would be needed to kill him. He would die his own death while leading a life of isolation and alienation.
When we finish the reading of the poem, it becomes clear that the poet disapproves individual killing. He
condemns all wars. This is the theme of the poem. We can count this great poem among other good anti-war
poems in the English language.
4. 'Five Ways to Killing a Man' is a purposeful satire. Explain how? What is the purpose inherent in it?
OR What essentially has been the effect of change in the style of killing a man witnessed during the
period of last two thousand years ? Has it degraded human spirit in the process?
'Five Ways to Kill a Man' is a purposeful satire. It satirises the human attitude of killing other human
beings for a selfish gain. Since time immemorial there have been bloody wars involving bloodshed, death and
destruction. Men have invented more and more efficient ways of killing others over a period of time.
We may trace the history of violence from the time of Jesus Christ. His views were not acceptable to
his contemporaries, hi sheer ignorance they decided to put an end to a highly promising life. They subjected
Jesus to an inhuman torture leading to his death. He was made to carry a heavy cross to the top of the hill
where he was nailed to it. It was a sad spectacle, a tragic sight. A crowd of people watched it with no tears in
their eyes and no sympathy in their hearts. That was a horrible incident which showed man's brutality and
insensitivity towards another man. The presence of the crowd of people evokes the passion and spirit of the
historical event of crucifixion. The crowd comprised the Jews and the Roman soldiers who watched it with
amusement. The poet focuses on the pleasure human beings get out of such a killing spectacle. The worst
kind of cruelty is witnessed in the sadistic behaviour of those who respond to the request for a little water to
quench his thirst. The heartless tormentors give him vinegar on a sponge to inflict still more painful torture on
him. The poet describes all this with a seemingly cold objectivity. But it touches the hearts of readers.
The killing takes another form as time passes. We come to medieval England when wars were fought with
axes, spears and arrows. If the warriors wore armour to protect themselves, there were the sharp spears to
pierce the armour and kill the vulnerable man inside that cage. The kings and princes were responsible for
such wars. They fought wars where men attacked men, pierced their hearts to satisfy the greedy ambitions of
their rulers.
The twentieth century dawned. The style of warfare changed. The soldiers did not face the enemy
with the arms and weapons. Instead, they only waited for the wind to blow in the direction of the enemy. Then
they blew the deadly gas at them and killed them in large number. The worst was yet to come. In the fifth
decade of the century, US dropped atom bombs on Japan to cut the matter short. Thousands of human
beings were involved. Most of them were dead, others were dying. Still others lived life of disease, pain and
suffering till they died. That was when men became totally heartless and insensitive. They had found a quick
way to kill a man. That was an extreme kind of brutality.
We may now consider the effect of change in the style of killing a man over a period of two thousand
years since the time of Christ. As the time passed, the method of killing changed. The killer gradually moved
away from his victim. The most ancient way of killing was the most complicated. The latest is the easiest. Just
drop a nuclear bomb, and then use a broom to sweep away your enemy from the surface of the earth. The
last situation which the poet presents before us is shocking. It implies that living in the later part of the
twentieth century is fatal in itself.
Heartless killing in various ways has degraded human spirit. Man has fallen from the high pedestal he
was granted by God. Using satire, historical reference and intense imagery, the poet conveys the inescapable
reality of war and in human behaviour. The poem awakens feelings of sympathy and sorrow to read how men

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have been, and are cruel to each other. We are left regretting why all that had happened in the past and is
being repeated now. Can't we leave a better world for the future generations? The question mark remains.
4. This poem is a warning to the narrow prejudice and war mongers. The poet invokes us to glorify the
universal brotherhood. Discuss with close reference to the poem.
The poem 'Five Ways to Kill a Man' is a bitter satire on the cruelty of mankind. The poet satirises the
mankind for not giving up violence. In his ironical tone, he describes five ways to kill a man. The poet points
out that with the passage of time, the ways to kill a man have become more lethal. There was a time when the
enemy was nailed on a wooden plank and killed in front of people. This method was used to crucify Jesus.
Then the times changed. Men made swords to kill the enemy by piercing through his armour. This method
was used by the armed soldiers in the primitive wars. The victory used to be celebrated by arranging a
banquet in a castle. The soldiers, white horses, arrows and bows were required to defeat the enemy:
"Or you can take a length of steel, / shaped and chased in a traditional way, / and attempt to pierce the
metal cage he wears. / But for this you need white horses, / English trees, men with bows and
arrows, / at least two flags, a prince, and a / castle to hold your banquet in."
The mankind, then, dispensed with all civility in the war. Poisonous gas was used against the enemy.
Bombs were thrown, and martial songs were played. In such wars the soldiers were required to wear steel
helmets. In an age of aeroplanes, it is all the more easily to destroy your enemy. The deadliest bomb can be
thrown on the enemy country. The only requirement is that the country using such bomb should be far away
from the enemy territory to evade the aftermath of such terror. The poet is obviously referring to the use of
atom bomb, as was used by the U.S.A. against Japan during the Second World War. The most simple and
direct way to kill, according to the poet, is living in hellish conditions of our age (the middle of the twentieth
century):
"These are, as I began, cumbersome ways to kill a man. / Simpler, direct and much more neat is to see
/ that he is living somewhere in the middle / of the twentieth century, and leave him there."
It is the poet's scathing attack on the life we live in the modern age. No sword or bomb is now needed.
Living in itself is a kind of death. Loneliness is so pervasive that it is deadly.
Thus in a sarcastic tone, the poet says that the easiest way to kill the man is to leave him to die of anguish,
loneliness and alienation.
Here the poet indirectly declares the uselessness of narrow prejudice and war. War is nothing but the
boastful show of power and cruelty to mankind. Killing human beings, whatever may the method, is the display
of animalism of human nature which would bring no good but only devastation and disintegration. Therefore,
having placed the different modes of killing, the poets wants to advice us to hate killing and to wake up our
humanity. The poet invokes us to realize and know ourselves who are the many-shaped bricks of human
society into a coherent structure. It allows that it is possible to realize the prospect of a world family with the
unifying bond of love among its members in the wake of Realization. The apostles laboured hard, the martyrs
died in torment, the scholars and the scientists proclaimed the beauties of higher life, the sociologists
untiringly inculcated the sense of duties of good citizen, the philosophers pioneered sublime thoughts, and all
agreed that we are one and that man's first duty is to realize themselves and their duties. This is the key to
what we describe as Universal Brotherhood. The poet circuitously advocates for Universal Brotherhood
expressing his hatred towards killing human beings.
5. Bring out the main theme of the poem. How is it chilling in its final effect? What do you think of it?
In this poem, the poet satirizes the cruelty of mankind over the years. He ironically, remarks that there
are five ways to kill the enemy. In each of the five stanzas, he refers to one way of killing. The first crudest way
of killing the enemy was to nail him on the wooden plank and kill him in front of the people. The poet alludes to
Christ's crucifixion when he says.
"To do this properly you require a crowd of people wearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloak to
dissect, a sponge, some vinegar and one man to hammer the nails home." The poet sarcastically
remarks that with the passage of time mankind developed and refined its ways of killing. Arrows and swords
were wielded in wars against the enemy. Then as the time passed, bombs and poisonous gases were used to
kill the enemy.
In an age of aeroplanes, it became easier to kill the enemy by throwing bombs from the air. The poet
has in mind the throwing of atom bombs over Japan by the U.S.A. When he says: ............ All you then
require is an ocean to separate you, two systems of government, a nation's scientists, several
factories, a psychopath and land that no-one needs for several years."
The lines clearly show how politicians wage war and justify their misdeeds by saying that they are
fighting against a different, system of government which is anti-people and anti-peace in the world. Scientists
invent weapons of wars which are then manufactured in factories. Some 'psychopath' is required to start the
war. The warmonger, in the poet's view, is nothing but a mentally-sick person.
The tone of the poet becomes bitter in the final stanza. According to him, it is now much more easy to
kill the enemy: just leave him somewhere in the modern age, and he will die of his own. What he wants to say
is that mankind has created such conditions in our age which are dangerous and deadly. Man finds nothing

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worthwhile to live for. He realizes, after a long struggle, that he is an isolated human being in this absurd
world. Physical, mental and moral decay proves to be more deadly than any weapon of war used anytime in
the history of mankind.
The poet's views are true to some extent, but seem to be perhaps a bit exaggerated and pessimistic.
Despite self-destructive instincts, mankind has sustained during the last thousands of years, and this gives us
hope

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