The Interrogation by Edwin Muir is a free verse poem that recounts the story of a group of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border into a new country. Their hesitation leads them to be apprehended by border patrol officers who begin a never ending interrogation, which the immigrants are unable to escape from. Through this narrative, Muir explores ideas of sympathy versus judicial order and social hierarchy and racism between the officers and immigrants. Themes of longing and endurance are also considered with the hope that the immigrants may cross over to the new and revered land. .
In order to emphasise the plight of the immigrants, Muir creates a juxtaposition of whether to exercise judicial order, or sympathy towards the foreigners. The idea of judicial order is created through the characterisation of the 'patrol' officers. 'The leader' of the officers description as 'conscientious and intent' establishes a sense of strictness and rigour, yet fair and humane. This suggests that while 'the leader' may feel for the immigrants, it is his job to abide by the law. This establishes a sense of separation between the two groups. Judicial order is highlighted later in the poem with the list like questioning 'now, who, what we are,', which creates a sense of methodology and routine. The commas in these phrases emphasise the dullness of the job, eradicating any compassion that the officers may feel towards the immigrants. Directly contrasting with this, is the idea of sympathising with the naive immigrants. Muir's choice to present the poem from the point of view of the immigrants, evokes a sense of sympathy towards them. This is supported by the playing out of events, which seems to slowly close in on the immigrants as they 'hesitated, and then came the patrol'. A feeling that an entire army is approaching this small group of people is highlighted through the pause created by the semi colon after 'the patrol;'.
