‘A Hanging’ by George Orwell

‘A Hanging’by George Orwell

♣ Purpose • The main purpose of George Orwell’s non-fiction essay, “A Hanging,” is to persuade the reader of the “unspeakable wrongness” of capital punishment. The essayist also implicitly presents a critical view of British Imperial rule in Burma.

♣ Stance 1 • A firmly anti-capital punishment stance is explicitly stated in a key paragraph in the centre of the essay: “I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide… He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone — one mind less, one world less.”

♣ Stance 2 • Elsewhere in the essay, his stance in not presented so overtly. He uses key details/descriptions/anecdotes which bolster his anti-capital punishment stance and which encourage the reader to recognise the barbarity of capital punishment for themselves. He chooses to ‘show’ not tell. For example, he does not end the essay by stating that capital punishment is wrong, instead he leaves us with the haunting image of the dead man ironically juxtaposed against the others drinking : “We all had a drink together, native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a hundred yards away.”

♣ Narrative Voice 1 • Orwell begins the essay with the collective pronoun “we.” He is an Imperial Police Superindant who is observing this execution in an official capacity. He aligns himself from the outset with the other officials, jailers and soldiers.

♣ Narrative Voice 2 • Then Orwell has an epiphany about the unacceptable nature of capital punishment: “It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide.”

♣ Narrative Voice 3 • Orwell the man speaks, not Orwell the Imperial Police Officer. It is an important part of his argument in this section that he stresses his own individuality, and that of the prisoner. • Later in the essay, after the hanging, Orwell returns to use of “we”, as the witnesses of the hanging attempt to settle their nerves by laughing and drinking together in relief.

♣Setting 1 • Set in Burma, where Orwell served in the Indian Imperial Police (1922-27) as an assistant superintendent. The ‘hanging’ of the title takes place in a grim and depressing British prison, which is run by British officials with Burmese assistance. • Orwell creates a sombre mood with details which establish the scene: “ 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.” • Here he uses the technique of pathetic fallacy, where details describing the weather also suggest the mood of the piece – in this case, overwhelming unease.

♣Setting 2 • Next, he focuses on the condemned cells: “a row of sheds fronted with double bars like small animal cages.” The dehumanisation of the condemned prisoners is emphasised by a simile – shows they are being kept like animals, in cramped, crude structures. • This image of the prisoners being kept like animals is further enhanced by the description of them: “In some of them brown silentmen were squatting at the inner bars, with their blankets draped round them.” In particular the word “squatting,” emphasises the prisoners’ lack of dignity.The fact these men are “silent” suggests they have given up on life – they are listless and their spirits have been broken.

♣Setting 3 • Another important aspect of setting which Orwell presents, is the relationship between the British officials and the Burmese who work for them. Through showing these exchanges, Orwell is encouraging the reader to form critical judgements on Imperial Rule. • The superintendant of the jail speaks in a dominating and irritable tone to the Burmese jailer Francis:‘For God's sake hurry up, Francis,’ he said irritably. ‘The man ought to have been dead by this time. Aren't you ready yet?’ • Francis, the head jailer, a fat Dravidian in a white drill suit and gold spectacles, waved his black hand. “‘Yes sir, yes sir,’ he bubbled.” The use of the word “bubbled” shows the lack of dignity and subservience in Francis’ reply.

♣Setting 4 • The hangman greets the party “with a servile crouch.” The word “servile” again suggests the undignified way the Burmese prostrate themselves before their British masters. • Later in the essay , the Eurasian boy talks to Orwell in an ingratiating and subeservient manner: “ Do you not admire my new silver case, sir? From the boxwallah, two rupees eight annas. Classy European style.’ Ironically, he hasjust told us the awful detail that the condemned man had “pissed himself “ from fright on the floor of his cell. The reader feels angry that the Eurasian boy has been corrupted in such a way, where he is clearly more interested in the material goods which he can gain under the imperial system, rather than focussing on the horror of his countryman’s situation.

♣ Structure 1 *Sets the scene / establishes mood (paragraph 1) * Focus on the prisoner (his appearance, preparation for the gallows, unresisting). * Ceremony – bugle call etc. *Interaction between Doctor and Francis. * Journey to gallows. *The Dog * THE EPIPHANY * On the gallows: “Ram, Ram….” etc. Unbearable build up of tension. * “Chalo!” – moment of death. * The dog’s reaction to the dead man. * Description of relief / juxtaposed with horrific anecdotes. * Laughing / drink together juxtaposed with final image of the dead man.

♣ Structure 2 • Orwell successfully manipulates structure in this essay to give the maximum impact to his anti-capital punishment stance. By providing us with description of the condemned cells and focussing on the vulnerability and humanity of the prisoner – “a puny wisp of a man,” in the early sections of the essay, Orwell establishes the reader’s sympathy for the condemned man. Tellingly, he chooses not to give us details of the man’s crime, which presumably would be a serious one, as this would detract from our sympathy for the prisoner.

♣ Structure 3 • It is important that Orwell chooses to put his epiphany about “the unspeakable wrongness” in the middle of the essay, before the actual hanging. This means that for the reader, as for Orwell, the tension and horror in the lead up to the execution are heightened. • After the execution, Orwell deliberately juxtaposes the men’s understandable relief with several horrific anecdotes, which remind the reader of the brutality and inhumanity of capital punishment. Finally the laughing, drinking men are juxtaposed against the final image if the corpse.

♣ Style 1 • In the key paragraph of the whole essay – the central epiphany, Orwell makes highly effective use of word choice, imagery and sentence construction in order to convince us of the evil nature of capital punishment. ”It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide. This man was not dying, he was alive just as we were alive. All the organs of his body were working - bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming - all toiling away in solemn foolery. His nails would still be growing when he stood on the drop, when he was falling through the air with a tenth of a second to live. His eyes saw the yellow gravel and the grey walls, and his brain still remembered, foresaw, reasoned - reasoned even about puddles. He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone - one mind less, one world less.”

♣ Style 2 • In the topic sentence, he highlights that he has experienced an epiphany - “till that moment”, then introduces his topic, the significance of “what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man.” • Next the effective word choice of “unspeakable wrongness” demonstrates Orwell’s uncompromising, unequivocal rejection of capital punishment – it is so wrong, he feels he cannot begin to explain just how wrong it is. • Throughout the rest of the paragraph he highlights the health and life in the man. He states – “he was alive just as we were alive”, stressing the common humanity between the condemned man and the others in the execution party, a key idea in Orwell’s argument which is repeated in the final sentence of the paragraph. • He uses a list of present participles – “..working,.. digesting, ..renewing,. growing,.. forming,.. toiling” in order to emphasise just how alive the prisoner is and the ongoing, constantly evolving nature of this life. Orwell then uses a gruesome fact to further highlight this point – he points out that the prisoner’s nails will still be growing as he drops to his death.

♣ Style 3 • Orwell then focuses on the mental, rather than physical abilities of the man, using yet another list – “his brain still remembered, foresaw reasoned”, which he links to the experience which triggered the epiphany – “ – reasoned even about puddles!”. • All this is brought together in the final sentence of the paragraph. He repeats the idea of common humanity “ He and we were a party of menwalking together,”then he again uses present participles in a list to stress the immediacy of sensory experience – “seeing, hearing, feeling,understanding the same world.” He then describes how “one of us” (again he is focussing on their common humanity)will be gone “with a sudden snap” – effective use of onomatopoeia and alliteration to mark the quick brutality of the execution. This lengthy sentence is then concluded with a dash , foregrounding and emphasising Orwell’s summarising slogan – “one mind less, one world less.” In this powerful metaphor, Orwell is asserting that each individual human consciousness is a whole world in itself, and therefore human life is very precious indeed.

♣ Use of Anecdote • As previously mentioned, the positioning of these anecdotes is significant, juxtaposed ironically with the men’s relief. • Eurasian Boy –…”with a knowing smile, “ Do you know , sir, our friend (he meant the dead man), when he heard his appeal had been dismissed, he pissed on the floor of his cell. From fright. – Kindly take one of my cigarettes, sir. Do you not admire my new silver case sir? From the boxwallah, two rupees eight annas. Classy European style.” • He’s been infected with European materialism / consumerism. A man on the make. He seems so unfeeling to glibly discuss the condemned man’s terrified reaction, then to show off his new cigarette case. We react to this smarmy character with disgust.

♣ Anecdote 2 • Francis – commenting on unsuccessful hangings - the doctor pulling on the legs of a hanged man, “to ensure decease.” Or the prisoner who had to be prised from the condemned cell – “Ach, he wass very troublesome!” • Orwell then writes: “I found that I was laughing quite loudly.” “I found” suggests his surprise at his reaction – after the moment of epiphany he might expect to find this anecdote distasteful, yet he is so overcome with relief at the fact the execution is over that he laughs.

♣Mood/Reader Reaction • Orwell skilfully manipulates mood in order to engage the readers’ emotions and bolster his anti-capital punishment and anti-imperialistic messages. • Depressing/sombre/uneasy – establishes the setting (paragraph 1). • Sympathy – description of the prisoner (paragraph 2). • Irritable/uncomfortable – conversation between the superintendent and Francis. (highlights the unequal relationship between the British rulers and the Burmese.)

♣ Mood 2 • Dismay/surprise – “aghast” at dog. Contrast with the happy mood of the creature – “gambolled”…”wild with glee.” • Horror – the central epiphany. • Unbearable tension – “It was a high, reiterated cry of ‘Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!’, not urgent and fearful like a prayer or a cry for help, but steady, rhythmical, almost like the tolling of a bell. The dog answered the sound with a whine.” “over over again…minutes seemed to pass.” • Relief – “he’s all right” “ one felt an impulse to sing, to break into a run, to shout.” • Disgust and horror – at anecdotes. • Unease – the drinking men, juxtaposed with the corpse, a mere hundred yards away.

♣ Use of symbol • In this essay, the dog is used in a symbolic way to represent the oppressed Burmese people – furthering Orwell’s anti-Imperialist purpose. • When it comes upon the execution parade, Orwell contrasts its glee and desire to play with the horrified reaction of the men (with the exception of the prisoner.) “A dreadful thing had happened – “ Everyone stoodaghast…” • Its irrepressible glee and the way it “gatecrashes” this parade highlights the awful perverse formality of the hanging. The men are about to commit a brutal act, yet it is dressed up with ceremony – the six warders, the “desolately thin“ bugle call. “The prisoner, in the grasp of two warders, looked on incuriously as though this was another formality of the hanging.”

♣ Use of symbol 2 • The dog goes up to the prisoner, and licks his face, symbolising the concern of a Burmese for a fellow countryman. When the condemned man is chanting on the gallows, the dog, “answered the sound with a whine.” • After the execution, the dog appears to act more appropriately then the men – “it galloped immediately to the back of the yard, where it stood among the weeds looking timorously out at us…The dog, sobered and conscious of having misbehaved itself, slipped after them.”

♣ Topicality • Consider the shocking images in the media of Saddam Hussein’s execution. The following extract comes from an article in the Guardian a few days afterward: Leader: Wednesday January 3, 2007 The Guardian "It is curious, but till that moment I had never realised what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man," wrote George Orwell after witnessing a hanging. Proximity to death, which shocked him as a police officer in pre-war Burma, has been brought to the world in a different form at the start of 2007 through the images and sounds surrounding Saddam Hussein's execution, recorded on a camera phone and released on the internet. • It is interesting to reflect that Orwell’s essay is being quoted in a national newspaper, 76 years after it was written. It’s interesting that the essay is still relevant in today’s world.

‘A Hanging’ by George Orwell