In the Penal Colony

“In the Penal Colony” is a critique of the penal system’s oppressive nature. It also offers commentary on the dehumanizing effect of Power and Control. This short story is remarkable for its grotesque and vivid yet realistic imagery, as well as its exploration of injustice, the complexities of the penal system, and human nature.

A psychoanalytical lens reveals that the convicted man is entirely subjugated as a prisoner. He is not only enchained physically but has also been mentally programmed to feel enslaved and sees himself as such. Robert Young in his book, Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction, refers to this phenomenon as the “internalization” of the negative self-image as a result of psychological colonization. He writes that “being turned into an object, the object of a pointing finger and a deriding gaze, is only the exterior part. What also happens is that those in such situation come to internalize this view of themselves, to see themselves as different, ‘other’, lesser” (Young, Robert. Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 21). From an external point of view, the prisoner becomes merely an object of the colonizer’s gaze and pointing fingers. This is represented literally in the text when the traveler “glance[s] over at” the prisoner as the officer “point[s] at him” (79). There are numerous instances where the officer “point[s] at the condemned man” (80), and the prisoner stands “as erect as at all possible” (80) for their gaze. He has internalized his inferior status and seems resigned to his punishment. Likewise, after he escapes his fate, he entertains the soldier and becomes friends with him.

The story also touches upon moral relativism. The traveler does not understand the apparatus, the penal system of the colony, or the nature of the judgments and punishments there. Right from the beginning, he is “against capital punishment” (97), which is practiced openly and severely in the penal colony. On the other hand, the officer with his different moral standards believes that the traveler is “limited to seeing the world” because of his “European” and “liberal democratic ideology” (91). For the officer, the apparatus is “the most humane” machine. This highlights the institutionalized violence and power structures that can be seen in the story. Institutionalized violence numbs and blinds people from seeing its horrors, and those in such conditions come to view violent practices as the only right ones. When the traveler is shocked to find that the prisoner has no “opportunity to defend himself” (80), the officer looks off to the side as he does not “want to offend the traveler because of his lack of insight” (80).

The officer worships the old commander and his machine. He looks at it with “a certain amount of awe” (74) and is always reminiscing about the “good ol’ days” (89) when the machine was in “sparkling” condition. The direct tension between the officer and the new commander—and the indirect tension between the new commander and the old commander—represents the binary of Tradition and Conformity Versus Innovation and Progress. The officer and the old commander are proponents of complete control over individuals, which is represented by the machine. The purpose of the machine is not to ensure justice but to exert power through torture. On the other hand, the new commander makes some “fundamental changes” in the penal colony. The new commander and most of the penal colony do not support capital punishment and want to get rid of the machine. He has an inclination “toward leniency” and “mildness even toward convicts” (88), which is outrageous for the officer. While the new commander represents a more humane approach, absurdity enters the narrative again with the examples of his compassion, like feeding prisoners on the day of their execution. In the context of existentialism, the narrative asks whether any aspect of a penal colony, designed to restrain and punish, can be compassionate at all.

With this, the idea of free will and agency is problematized. The prisoner has no autonomy and freedom, figuratively and literally tied by the system. The soldier is yet another cog in the machine of the penal system. His dissatisfaction with his job can be seen in numerous instances; he dozes on the job when the officer is explaining the apparatus. Another hint is when the soldier attempts to escape the colony in the end but fails. These two men share a language and cannot understand the officer or the traveler, indicating their shared status in this oppressive system even as the soldier has power over the prisoner. This parallels the way colonizing forces split colonized populations, maintaining power by using some citizens to control others. Despite his dissatisfaction, the soldier cannot afford to flee the colony. On the other hand, the traveler has the wealth and status to afford free will and agency for himself. Therefore, when he is not satisfied with the system, he can leave it as soon as he wants. This speaks about the traveler’s character; he realizes that the penal system is harsh and the prisoners are treated brutally, yet he refuses to help the condemned man or the soldier. He is also silent during the executions. This represents how oppressive regimes are maintained by compliance as much as through brute force.

Alienation and isolation are represented through the story’s imagery. The “desolateness of [the] valley” and the prisoners’ isolation explore the way the system excludes them from a normal life and world (91). The machine “stands all alone” in the valley (91), which itself is surrounded by cliffs. The frequent use of zoomorphism (attributing animal qualities to humans) also shows how the subjects are considered subhuman by the system. The prisoner is described as a dumb dog and an unruly bear, whereas the spectators are described as buzzing flies that needed rails to be kept away from the apparatus and the ditch. The imagery of barricades evokes a comparison to animals in a zoo; the prisoners in their misery are entertainment for an unfeeling population.