Name : Manachanok Tantraporn

Section : 1206

Date : 18 oct 2016

A Hanging

Judicial execution is legal in many states and countries. However, some people maintain that

taking other human life can never be justified. A Hanging by George Orwell is set in Burma during

1930s. At that time, Burma was governed by Britain as a province of India. Burma was under the

control for 62 years during three Anglo-Burmese war was fighting. According to the situation,

Britishs policeman take a big part of supervising population in Burma. Orwell reflects unseen

perspective of superintendent by Hindus mans execution that he witnessed which will express

through the figurative language in term of human being, police mans mind and environment

The protagonist, representative of George Orwell, is the British policeman who is the

supervisor in the execution in Burma. A Hanging was happened as a usual routine for hindus man.

The author who works as minor people witnessed how his policemans friends did with the prisoner.

In contrast, those who work with execution over and over never get use to it. They maintain their

feeling of guiltiness and suffer after each job is done. Ive got a bottle of whisky in the car. We

could do with it, (page 4) author mentioned whisky as a symbol of relief and away of getting rid of

bad feeling. Policeman who were suffered from the past situation use it for curing their hurtful pain.

Ironically, Policeman were depicted as victim instead of the prisoner. Think of all the pain and

trouble you are causing to us, (page 4) this figurative language contrastingly pictures prisoner as an

offender who making a trouble for them. Conversely, soldiers actually were the one who ending his

life.

Moreover, Orwell illustrates human being through the situation when the prisoner is

marched to the gallows. "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" (page 2) author uses detailed description to compare life and

obstacle as the puddle. Instinctively, The prisoner who nearly die soon still concerning about small

puddle as existed human. Additionally, The phase unspeakable wrongness reflect more on

authors thought. No matter what the situation is, he realizes that cutting other life is still terrible.

The author also tries to indicate human being of the condemned man. This man was not

dying, he was alive just as we were alive. All organs of his body were working - bowels digesting

food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissue 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, (page 2) the author discovers that

human function is still taking place with the prisoner even the life was perished. This emphasizes

that the condemned man have no different from us. There is no right to take someones life because

every one have opportunity to grow in the way they decides, not by a major expectation.

The author uses the dog as a symbol to reveal Polices mind. As the story mentioned, It

was a large wooly dog, half Airedale, half pariah, (page 2) author uses the word half Airedale half

pariah to illustrate himself. Even if he take a role as a supervisor of the jail, commiseration was

still existed in his mind. In term of the dog, half breed describes a mixture of two species in one

self. It can refer to the author who works as a killer but still have morality in his mind.

He also symbolizes a dog as himself For a moment it pranced round us, and then, before

anyone could stop it, it had made a dash for the prisoner,up tried to lick his face and jumping (page

2) he looks at the prisoner as a person he can play with, not a prisoner who was a criminal. As he

compares himself as a dog and has no biased on the prisoner. He realised that prisoner is a normal

person, who has body, thought and feeling like others. After that, when the guards brought the dog

off, Orwell immediately knew how awful it was to take someones life.

Setting is one of the significant elements to keep continuing mood and tone of the reader

with the story. Orwell uses the figurative language to describe the environment in the jail. He
describes the weather in that day It was in Burma, a sodden morning of the rains. A sickly light,

like a yellow thin foil, was slanting over the high walls into the jail yards,(page 1) The author uses

sentences to add portentous feeling. Moreover, Orwell also describe condemn cell as "A row of

sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages. (page 1) his quote show low condition of

the jail where the prisoner living in. They were treated like animals. Another evidence is It was

like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water,(page 1) authors

uses the simile to compare the condemn man as the fish, and the supervisor as a fisherman who

tried to grab alive fishes. Unfortunately, if someone were caught, we would not have a chance to get

back.

In conclusion, Orwell reveals hindus man execution in Burma by the figurative language.

He describes existing of human being in the prisoner who nearly died through their instinct and

organs function. Moreover, polices mind and his mental was expressed through the symbol of the

dog. The living condition and weather illustrate the dark environment of the story. Finally, short

story A Hanging by George Orwell shows the perspective of policeman that the outsider disregard

how hurtful of execution, not only the prisoner who was physically harmed by this situation, but

also policeman were mentally destroyed too. Hopefully, judicial execution will be banned for less

ruining people in the future