I feel a little like an idiot as I write this confession. It took me two celebrations of Guy Fawkes Night to really get what the celebration was about.
My historically minded father will likely blush as he reads my decidedly "un-historical" take on the whole holiday... I think it has to do with the fact that while my dad hears a story once and can instantly recreate it, I hear an account of something and instantly glaze over, nodding in "agreement" but not necessarily understanding. Wars, kings, empires, political movements--yikes. I think I just have a mind block against it. Whereas my father majored in history, and put me to shame by repeating explanations of famous Hong Kong landmarks which he had just learned, which was all news to me--and I was actually living there at the time.
So it's no wonder I didn't fully grasp this whole bonfire night thing and what it represents the first time around. I vaguely recall a story about an assassination attempt on the king, which involved this Fawkes guy :P (get it? Fawkes Guy), but that the plot had failed, and for some reason every 5th of November was now celebrated, in part, by burning an effigy of Fawkes in a bonfire. I didn't get it. Why would you celebrate someone by burning them in effigy? And why do we celebrate a would be assassin? Did they really not like that king terribly much? But it apparently didn't trouble me enough to really dig deeper and get clear on the whole thing. That didn't happen until this year.
I am now entering my second annual cycle of London life, and starting to have some "flashbacks" to events from last year as things begin to repeat themselves. I knew that bonfire night was approaching again, but this year, for some reason, I felt the need to trouble myself and get an explanation for my nagging unease at this holiday. So I went where every inquiring mind goes for definitive answers: Wikipedia.
Lo and behold, when I read the description this time, it suddenly made sense. Guy Fawkes was among the plotters to kill the king, he was discovered and captured, and died a gruesome death. But the holiday is a celebration of the failure of the plot, and Fawkes becomes some kind of antihero whose death is a welcome final punctuation to a story which could have ended tragically for the king. The so called "Gunpowder Plot" which didn't succeed is now commemorated through the explosion of fireworks, much like any country would celebrate their independence day. Duh.
Guess I can sleep easier now. That is, if people would just stop exploding things.
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Failed action hero
But great excuse for fireworks--
The Guy of the hour
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