The essay begins by setting the scene within the confines of the jail, poetically describing Orwell’s surroundings and the manner in which they are perceived. It goes on to introduce the prisoner who remains nameless and is known only by his Hindu background and unusual appearance. As the prisoner is escorted to the gallows where he would soon lose his life, a large terrier enters the scene and creates commotion …show more content…
before finally being restrained. While at the time the dog’s presence may appear erratic and almost upsetting to the plot, it becomes clearer as the essay progresses as to why Orwell chose to include this. The story takes a cutaway from the long walk at the point the prisoner is seen to have “…stepped lightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path” (p.2). The action suddenly humanises the prisoner in Orwell’s eyes as it is realised “…the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide” (p.2). The unfortunate deed of execution finally takes place and it is when the time of death is announced that the story reaches its emotional climax. The story steadily closes over a few paragraphs as Orwell describes the dispassion felt by the surrounding men of the dreadful deed having just been performed before concluding with “The dead man was a hundred yards away”(p.4). Rather than ending the story at the gallows, it is worth acknowledging that Orwell has continued in this way so as to further illustrate the injustice of capital punishment.
As with many literary pieces marked with his name, ‘A Hanging’ is merely a fictitious playground for the underlying message Orwell does not force this message upon readers but rather leaves the essay open to interpretation.
The scene is set in such a way as to suggest the dehumanisation associated with capital punishment, however with respect to the time in which this piece was written it should be considered the reason as to why Orwell was in Burma to begin with. The country, under British imperialistic rule, saw oppression from the British toward the Indian populace. This is important to acknowledge as the story describes not the British and their oppressive ways but rather how the Indians in themselves are dehumanising the prisoner. It is here where the dog’s purpose in the essay becomes clearer. As the prisoner chants the name of his god from the gallows the terrier “answered the sound with the whine” (p.3) as if to share the pain and offer support toward the prisoner. When the prisoner is killed, however, the dog retreats to a corner as if fearful that the same fate may come of him. By mentioning the dog Orwell has effectively entered a new perspective. It is almost as if to suggest the deplorability of the act, while it goes unnoticed by the jailers committing it, is recognised and feared by those who do not support
it.
While it is known to no certainty that the essay is truthful to the accounts, given that Orwell is known to have worked as a police officer in Burma it is certainly plausible that he had encountered the event as described. This being said, as Orwell has written the piece in the form of a story, it can also be questioned the extent to which the account is based on knowledge. Some areas are likely to have been exaggerated in the piece with the intent to provoke emotion and insight. With this in mind, ‘A Hanging’ would be considered more of an essay of literary power that it would knowledge. The power emanates from a combination of Orwell’s use of metaphorical representation and is supported by his powerful word choice. For instance, “It was in Burma, a sodden morning of the rains. A sickly light, like yellow tinfoil, was slanting over the high walls into the jail yard” (p.1). The word choice in these first two sentences of the essay alone shows strong physical qualities that play an important role in setting the scene as the dismal jail it is. Words such as ‘sickly’ and ‘sodden’ are used to invoke emotion upon readers and were likely not chosen for semantics. In the same paragraph, the jail cells are described metaphorically as having a likeness to “small animal cages” (p.1), which impressively expresses again the degrading way in which prisoners are being confined.
It is evident through the aforementioned use of literary power, word choice and story structure that Orwell did no set out to write this piece as a knowledgeable account of an event, but rather for the entertainment of his readers so much as to allow readers to see and fee what he felt.