#silvertalk

it stands out to me more every time I watch it that S1 Silver claims that torturing him would be useless, because under even a little pain, he’ll say whatever he thinks needs to be said.  It’s a very fair argument against torture in general  (if someone needs a practical argument, if the moral one of don’t torture people wth  isn’t enough) , but also it’s blatantly untrue for him?? 

This isn’t something that’s proven during the actual torture scene, when he’s holding out on naming crewmen (though then too, obviously!) ;  it’s obvious during the trip back to Nassau from the Urca de Lima, while Silver is Making Himself Essential. We don’t see every time he gets up to give his little News Reports before the Goat Story; but we do see enough to trust that every time ,  he’s getting clobbered, even to the point where it takes him a while to be able to stand again. That’s got to hurt a lot and it’s got to hurt worse  as it goes on and he’s got healing bruises all the time, and he still just. Keeps doing it. 

My point isn’t “oh look another lie”--of all his lies, this is waaaay the Most Justified-- nor is it just “Silver WTF Are Your Life Choices” (although. Silver. WTF.) It’s that Silver is fully  aware, even before he starts this, that It’s Gonna Hurt, and he launches into it willingly for days if not weeks. Which means he knows full well  that he can handle physical pain; repeated, regular, increasing physical pain, even. Sure, getting knock-down punched two or three times a shift by sailors is maybe not Torture in the way we see it throughout the show, but ...well, anyone who thinks it’s no big deal can do it themselves then. Me, I’ve been Punched For Real maybe twice in my whole life and I’m plenty queasy at the thought. But Silver knows he’s good for it; he can take a beating and keep grinning. 

Which makes the later Actual Torture scene  more  unsettling to me; he’s not coasting in on bluster and hope when the hammer starts swinging; he is reasonably confident  that he can hold out in the face of physical pain. A lot  of physical pain. And he does! he even keeps his wits about him! When the rescue comes, after he’s been getting his leg smashed to powder for several minutes, he’s got it together enough to gloat !  Like, obviously he is Not Thrilled about the situation, but up to this point? He’s ok with this! A Minor Setback! The Plan Is Working! 

Up til this point at least, Silver is demonstrably way  more unsettled about committing physical violence than enduring it ...