Analysis of Onlookers’ Cold-hearted Images in Turgenev’s “The Execution of Tropmann”

The ethical issues of the death penalty and public execution have aroused a widespread public concern.These ethical difficulties were addressed by Turgenev in his essay "The Execution of Tropmann".As academics pay closer attention to Turgenev's viewpoint, this article focuses on the images of onlookers and is divided into five sections: an introduction to the essay's basic content, the crowd's binary opposite images, the reasons behind cold-hearted behaviors, the artistic construction of the crowd of onlookers, and the reality reflection and literary significance.Upon witnessing Tropmann's execution, Turgenev expressed his anguish and remorse about being there, and drove readers to reflect on the decency of the death penalty and public execution.When the guillotine is employed as a prop for amusement by everybody and the execution is transformed into a carnival feast, barbarism will replace civilization and justice will be overthrown by evil.However, no matter what choice a country makes, respecting judicial sovereignty counts most.