| The Last Day of a Condemned Man | |
|---|---|
1829 illustration from the first edition |
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| Author(s) | Victor Hugo |
| Original title | Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Genre(s) | Romanticism |
| Publisher | Gosselin |
| Publication date | 1829 |
The Last Day of a Condemned Man (French: Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné) is a short novel by Victor Hugo first published in 1829. The novel recounts the thoughts of a man condemned to die. Hugo sees the book as a renunciation of the death penalty [1].
A man who has been condemned to death by the guillotine in 19th century France writes down his cogitations, feelings and fears while awaiting his execution. His writing traces his change in psyche vis-a-vis the world outside the prison cell throughout his imprisonment, and describes his life in prison, everything from what his cell looks like to the personality of the prison priest. He does not betray his name or what he has done to the reader, though he vaguely hints that he has killed someone.
On the day he is to be executed he sees his three-year-old daughter for the last time, but she no longer recognizes him, and tells him her father is dead.
The novel ends just after he briefly but desperately begs for pardon and curses the people of his time, the people he hears outside, screaming impatiently for the spectacle of his decapitation.