Theme 1: Execution One of the prominent discussions in W.G. Seabald’s The Rings of Saturn is the act of execution. Seabald, for example, discusses the cleansing operation carried out in Bosnia, in which several hundred thousand men, women, and children were killed in despicable ways in 1992. Killings were often carried out by hanging, but other instruments were used. Seabald gives us an example of the weapons used to carry out the heinous acts. Executioners used, “fixed blades, leather cuff bands, hammers… for the purpose of cutting throats” (150). Serbs, Jews, and Bosnians were all subject to these attacks, the bodies of those executed are relatable to a flock of dead birds. Often they were, “rounded up, and were hanged in rows like crows or magpies” (97). The killings carried …show more content…
Seabald’s The Rings of Saturn there is a resounding theme of isolation and subsequently loneliness. On numerous occasions he is left lonely whether in a village or at an airport. For example, while walking throughout the corridor Seabald exclaims that the people in the airport are, “as if they were under sedation” (89). The word sedation induces the idea that the people are asleep and further exemplifies the loneliness that Seabald feels. Seabald continues his claim by says that, “everyone was so strangely muted” (89). The word muted suggests that no one in the airport is talking further providing evidence of Sebald’s loneliness. Throughout his time at the airport Sebald is alone and isolated. Sebald after observing the surrounding people at the airport comes to the conclusion that, “one might of thought one was already a good way beyond this word” (89). This quote suggests that the people at the airport weren’t in there full state of consciousness causing Sebald to feel disassociated. Due to instances like this Sebald presents a resounding feeling of loneliness and disconnect. Sebald explains his time at the airport because isolation is a prominent theme throughout