A Ghost of Gunpowder

Posted by Joseph Allen McCullough May 21, 2006

Every year on November 5, Brits celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. Although more commonly referred to as Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night, this celebration commemorates the foiling of the Gun Powder Plot, an attempt to assassinate King James I. Every year, in all the towns and cities across England, communities gather to build large bonfires and burn crudely constructed effigy's of the late Guy Fawkes. Then, all through the night, fireworks shoot up from all around. Many of these are part of town organized displays, but many individuals and families also set off their own fireworks.

It is all done in the spirit of fun, and for most it is just a chance to party and make a lot of noise. But I have always felt just a note of underlying nastiness in it. Not from the people who celebrate today, but from the idea behind it all. I have no problem with fireworks displays and enjoy them greatly, but I have always had a problem with the idea of burning someone in effigy. If you watch the news enough you'll see it done and it is not a pretty sight. It is an expression of hatred of symbolically casting someone into the fires of hell.

No, I don't believe that anyone still approaches Guy Fawkes night with that kind of hatred, but perhaps that is all the more reason to let the tradition go. It's true that Guy Fawkes was not a sympathetic character. He attempted mass murder and was apparently unrepentant about it. But he was also a man who was tortured near to death. Tortured in the old sense of the word, where skin was flayed and burnt and fingers were broken. He was a man who was hanged by the neck until almost dead then pulled apart by horses and cut into pieces. Guy Fawkes' crime was great and so was his punishment.

I think Bonfire/Fireworks night is a great little holiday and I don't want to take away anyone's fun, I just think it is time to let go of any lingering malice left in the celebration. It is time to let Guy Fawkes' ghost rest.