A Most Peculiar Man

A Most Peculiar Man (P. Simon, 1965)
He was a most peculiar man. 

That's what Mrs. Riordan said and she should know; 

She lived upstairs from him 

She said he was a most peculiar man. 

He was a most peculiar man. 

He lived all alone within a house, 

Within a room, within himself, 

A most peculiar man. 

He had no friends, he seldom spoke 

And no one in turn ever spoke to him, 

'Cause he wasn't friendly and he didn't care 

And he wasn't like them. 

Oh, no! he was a most peculiar man. 

He died last Saturday. 

He turned on the gas and he went to sleep 

With the windows closed so he'd never wake up 

To his silent world and his tiny room; 

And Mrs. Riordan says he has a brother somewhere 

Who should be notified soon. 

And all the people said, "What a shame that he's dead, 

But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"

The concept of human dignity cannot be tied down to one specific definition. There are too many dimensions and aspects of it that combine to make one concept. While I believe that part of human dignity is something that each individual is born with and carries with them through life, I also believe that it is a social construct that is given to us by others and can therefore grow, change and be taken away.


"A Most Peculiar Man" is an example of dignity as a construct of other people's perceptions of a person. The man is viewed as peculiar to everyone around him, and his character is defined by what they all believe about him. He is degraded to the point of suicide, it seems. But why? Where does his dignity go? Does he still have dignity even if what they said about him was untrue? Did he kill himself to preserve what was left of his dignity?


Granted, many of these questions are inherent in the nature of the poetry itself, leaving the listener with the ability to interpret the meaning for themselves. Someone else might see it another way, depending on their experiences. That is how human dignity seems to work as well, leaving people with questions and interpretations of their own. Many of these questions will be answered over the course of the semester as we each explore the different dimensions of human dignity, giving us a better understanding of ourselves and each other.