Life And Death In George Orwell's A Hanging
Capital punishment is something that has been debated over by the public for ages whether if it is impartial to take away another human’s life. For politicians it’s a way to extract dangerous criminals, but is it appropriate to take another human life due to a crime? “A Hanging” by George Orwell presents the perspective of a guard ordered to take a prisoner to the gallows for hanging as a result of an unknown crime. Throughout the essay Orwell uses symbolism of life and death to convey his animosity towards the capital punishment through the perspective of a guard in Burma during British Imperialism. “A Hanging” a hanging by George Orwell uses examples of life and death to assert Orwell’s distain towards capital punishment before the hanging of the prisoner, at the gallows, and after the hanging. Before the gallows, George Orwell symbolically expresses his sentiment about taking another person’s life even though the Hindu man is a criminal. The abstract symbols of life are indicated by the events that transpire before the hanging. The Dog is one of the biggest indicator of life due to its spontaneous appearance. “It came bounding among us with a loud volley of barks, and leapt round us wagging its whole body, wild with glee at finding so many human beings together.” The hyperactive dog finds joy in just a gatherings of humans it is a symbol of joyous life. Being carefree is only a blessing that only the young and the free are allowed to feel but since
…show more content…
the man is going to die he will no longer ever feel carefree. The dog creates mischief and the guards try to capture it but are unable to so they continue towards the gallows. The prisoner himself is a symbol of life “All the organs of his body were working - bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming - all toiling away in solemn foolery” the prisoner is a human being every function of him working like any other human but his life is going to be cut short (5). The significants of him seeing all of his physical similarities is that the Main Character now sees that the people that even though people are different we are all the same physically. People often don’t understand other people, especially those of a higher power such as the Main Character. When the main character finally becomes emphatic towards the prisoner he realizes that he is feeling guilty about leading the man to his death. Death is symbolized through the living environment and the thoughts of the Main Character. The prison is very horrific “ condemned cells, a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages” and “was quite bare with exempt for a plank bed and a pot of drinking water” the environment is horrific and is appalling to humans (1). Only getting the basic needs the living conditions are horrible treating the prisoner as if they were animals. When people are prisoner they are stripped of comfort and are no longer treated as human beings. The main character saw the symbol of death when realizing that he will be taking the prisoner’s life at the gallows “till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man” he understands that the prisoner is going to die and it is his fault that he is destroying a human’s life. The Main Character realizes that the man is like him living and breathing but he will die. The Main Character then realizes that in the grand scheme of the world the prisoners death will be insignificant “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.” Orwell acknowledges that even though the prisoners death is insignificant it doesn’t take away the fact that the prisoner ia just as human as anyone else in the world (6).
During the hanging of the prisoner, Orwell gives his reaction to the death of the prisoner. Once at the gallows, the prisoner instead of being silent, the prisoner starts chanting to his god as a final prayer “it was a high, reiterated cry of ‘Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!’, not urgent and fearful like a prayer or a cry for help” the act of his prayer is an act of life praying, hoping believing that he will not suffer in the afterlife (12). The prisoner is a Hindu man so is faith he believes in recreation, if This is a symbol of life since prayer is a way to find peace in life. As the prisoner is chanting the entire camp is filled with a hesitant and uncomfortable dread “ oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable noise!” the feeling of anxiousness of his chanting and the upcoming silence of death the prison knows that once the lever is pulled there will be silence (13). If the man had gone longer it would just fill the camp with anxiousness and unease. Even though the Main Character was upset how he is taking another human’s life he just wants the hanging to be over. If he kept living the Main Character will just continue to see the man the guilt and uneasiness will just fill him. Each second the man chants is a constant reminder of that the man is alive that he has his faith, ideas and experiences like everyone else. At that moment everything stopped and the only thing left his the whining of the dog. Even though the dog was reminder of life before the gallows it was the one-first to show everyone on the camp death “when it got there it stopped short, barked, and then retreated into a corner of the yard, where it stood among the weeds, looking timorously out at us” being a playful dog it was frightened and sad once witnessing the dead body and it runs away (15). The dog that was a playful reminder of what carelessness feels is taken aback by the death of the prisoner. The dog is also can represent the prisoner when the dog was standing still the prisoner was standing still on the gallows both were analyzing what is happening, then barking as if he is chanting then finally running away or disappearing from the scene, but unlike the prisoner the dog gets to live. When they finally inspect the body the prison guard and superintendent are not fearful but relieved. Giving them a sigh of relief and as they give them his final death time “ ‘Eight minutes past eight. Well, that's all for this morning, thank God.’” this time is similar as the time they record in birth the moment that people are alive (16). But as guards record the time of birth it is out of happiness when they record death it is out of relief from anxiousness.
Once the hanging is finish the sense of relief is self evident throughout the camp making; Orwell shows that even though
In the prison yard people are all starting to get breakfast “two warders with buckets marched round ladling out rice; it seemed quite a homely, jolly scene, after the hanging.” after the death prisoner just carried on with their day,acting jolly and enjoying each others company (17). It seems unfair to be laughing and joking after a man that is condemned is hanging. The condemned prisoners are eating once again enjoying themselves and waiting of their own time to be hung; but they don't let a death of another inmate get them down. When it is the other prisoners turn to be hung the prisoners once again will go on living their lives trying to forget the past. This can be seen again with an Eurasian boy who describes his friend which was the prisoner, “ ‘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” the Eurasian boy who was friend of the prisoner quickly changes the topic to his new silver case an indication he has already moved now (19). It puts a new perspective on how important was the prisoners life since it is equated to a silver box of cigarettes. The superintendent is a symbol of death because instead of moving off the topic of death the superintendent brings up another execution. The topic of prisoner’s death is not a comfortable topic to the Main Character. But after over time the Main Character too moved on “I found that I was laughing quite loudly” he then starts laughing about the past hanging. Especially when being peer pressured it is easy to forget and go on living. moving past the feeling of uneasiness of the recently dead hanged prisoner but as all the life and joy is apparent around the camp the “dead man was a hundred yards away” the seeming distance of the man is them finally moving past his death (24). Even though it is clear with the death of the man life will always continue on and people will continue to live. Orwell shows that shows that even though there is always going to a constant reminder of death in the lives and capital punishment. It will always look insignificant looking as if it hundred yards away but it will always be there. Orwell makes sure that the last sentence make the audience understand that the prisoners and public execution are still there, in the distant but a constant reminder. George Orwell uses “A Hanging” to show his loathing of capital punishment.
No matter what is the crime people commit they are still people. As people die over the world the world cannot pause and grieve forever. Capital punishment is over looked by the general public because they assume that if you are facing capital punishment you are a horrible criminal. But when you look in a humanitarian sense the criminal is just like any other person. No mistake is too horrible that it justifies taking another human
life.
the man is going to die he will no longer ever feel carefree. The dog creates mischief and the guards try to capture it but are unable to so they continue towards the gallows. The prisoner himself is a symbol of life “All the organs of his body were working - bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming - all toiling away in solemn foolery” the prisoner is a human being every function of him working like any other human but his life is going to be cut short (5). The significants of him seeing all of his physical similarities is that the Main Character now sees that the people that even though people are different we are all the same physically. People often don’t understand other people, especially those of a higher power such as the Main Character. When the main character finally becomes emphatic towards the prisoner he realizes that he is feeling guilty about leading the man to his death. Death is symbolized through the living environment and the thoughts of the Main Character. The prison is very horrific “ condemned cells, a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages” and “was quite bare with exempt for a plank bed and a pot of drinking water” the environment is horrific and is appalling to humans (1). Only getting the basic needs the living conditions are horrible treating the prisoner as if they were animals. When people are prisoner they are stripped of comfort and are no longer treated as human beings. The main character saw the symbol of death when realizing that he will be taking the prisoner’s life at the gallows “till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man” he understands that the prisoner is going to die and it is his fault that he is destroying a human’s life. The Main Character realizes that the man is like him living and breathing but he will die. The Main Character then realizes that in the grand scheme of the world the prisoners death will be insignificant “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.” Orwell acknowledges that even though the prisoners death is insignificant it doesn’t take away the fact that the prisoner ia just as human as anyone else in the world (6).
During the hanging of the prisoner, Orwell gives his reaction to the death of the prisoner. Once at the gallows, the prisoner instead of being silent, the prisoner starts chanting to his god as a final prayer “it was a high, reiterated cry of ‘Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!’, not urgent and fearful like a prayer or a cry for help” the act of his prayer is an act of life praying, hoping believing that he will not suffer in the afterlife (12). The prisoner is a Hindu man so is faith he believes in recreation, if This is a symbol of life since prayer is a way to find peace in life. As the prisoner is chanting the entire camp is filled with a hesitant and uncomfortable dread “ oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable noise!” the feeling of anxiousness of his chanting and the upcoming silence of death the prison knows that once the lever is pulled there will be silence (13). If the man had gone longer it would just fill the camp with anxiousness and unease. Even though the Main Character was upset how he is taking another human’s life he just wants the hanging to be over. If he kept living the Main Character will just continue to see the man the guilt and uneasiness will just fill him. Each second the man chants is a constant reminder of that the man is alive that he has his faith, ideas and experiences like everyone else. At that moment everything stopped and the only thing left his the whining of the dog. Even though the dog was reminder of life before the gallows it was the one-first to show everyone on the camp death “when it got there it stopped short, barked, and then retreated into a corner of the yard, where it stood among the weeds, looking timorously out at us” being a playful dog it was frightened and sad once witnessing the dead body and it runs away (15). The dog that was a playful reminder of what carelessness feels is taken aback by the death of the prisoner. The dog is also can represent the prisoner when the dog was standing still the prisoner was standing still on the gallows both were analyzing what is happening, then barking as if he is chanting then finally running away or disappearing from the scene, but unlike the prisoner the dog gets to live. When they finally inspect the body the prison guard and superintendent are not fearful but relieved. Giving them a sigh of relief and as they give them his final death time “ ‘Eight minutes past eight. Well, that's all for this morning, thank God.’” this time is similar as the time they record in birth the moment that people are alive (16). But as guards record the time of birth it is out of happiness when they record death it is out of relief from anxiousness.
Once the hanging is finish the sense of relief is self evident throughout the camp making; Orwell shows that even though
In the prison yard people are all starting to get breakfast “two warders with buckets marched round ladling out rice; it seemed quite a homely, jolly scene, after the hanging.” after the death prisoner just carried on with their day,acting jolly and enjoying each others company (17). It seems unfair to be laughing and joking after a man that is condemned is hanging. The condemned prisoners are eating once again enjoying themselves and waiting of their own time to be hung; but they don't let a death of another inmate get them down. When it is the other prisoners turn to be hung the prisoners once again will go on living their lives trying to forget the past. This can be seen again with an Eurasian boy who describes his friend which was the prisoner, “ ‘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” the Eurasian boy who was friend of the prisoner quickly changes the topic to his new silver case an indication he has already moved now (19). It puts a new perspective on how important was the prisoners life since it is equated to a silver box of cigarettes. The superintendent is a symbol of death because instead of moving off the topic of death the superintendent brings up another execution. The topic of prisoner’s death is not a comfortable topic to the Main Character. But after over time the Main Character too moved on “I found that I was laughing quite loudly” he then starts laughing about the past hanging. Especially when being peer pressured it is easy to forget and go on living. moving past the feeling of uneasiness of the recently dead hanged prisoner but as all the life and joy is apparent around the camp the “dead man was a hundred yards away” the seeming distance of the man is them finally moving past his death (24). Even though it is clear with the death of the man life will always continue on and people will continue to live. Orwell shows that shows that even though there is always going to a constant reminder of death in the lives and capital punishment. It will always look insignificant looking as if it hundred yards away but it will always be there. Orwell makes sure that the last sentence make the audience understand that the prisoners and public execution are still there, in the distant but a constant reminder. George Orwell uses “A Hanging” to show his loathing of capital punishment.
No matter what is the crime people commit they are still people. As people die over the world the world cannot pause and grieve forever. Capital punishment is over looked by the general public because they assume that if you are facing capital punishment you are a horrible criminal. But when you look in a humanitarian sense the criminal is just like any other person. No mistake is too horrible that it justifies taking another human
life.