Natcha Aphichoksathaphorn (5861067) 1203

September. 22, 2017

A Hanging was written by George Orwell. The story happened during the time he was

serving as a policeman in Burma and it is influenced from his experiences of being a witness in

the execution. Neither the condemned mans name nor the crime that he committed is mentioned

in the story. Orwell expresses his thought and feeling towards execution through different ways

and one of those ways is irony. Orwell uses irony to illustrate the brutality of execution and his

opposition towards execution.

Orwell mentions the situation where a doctor is involved in execution process several

times in the story. First, it was in the morning before the execution and the superintendent of the

jail, who is also an army doctor, was standing moodily said For Gods sake hurry up, Francis,

and The man ought to have been dead by this time. Arent you ready yet? It is an irony

because the job of a doctor is to help people whether from illness or death. But this army doctor

hurries people up so that the condemned man is killed quicker.

Another time is when Francis mentions the case where the doctor pulls the prisoners legs

to certify death. I have known cases where the doctor was obliged to go beneath the gallows and

pull the prisoners legs to ensure decease. Most disagreeable! The part that is ironic is that the

doctor pulls the leg of the prisoner which meant to kill him. That totally contrast to the job of the

doctor. Also, it should be disagreeable for the prisoner, not the doctor because the prisoner is the

dead man.

In addition, Orwell uses irony to illustrate the situation of Asian and European interacting

with each other when everyone is done with their job, which is execution. We all had a drink
together, native and European alike, quite amicably. It is ironic because, at that time, Asian and

European would not drink or socialise together. But the execution brings them together. Not only

having time together but drinking together. He even emphasises that the environment is happy.

Lastly, Orwell mentions another situation when the execution is about to begins. The

hangman, a grey-haired convict in the white uniform of the prison, was waiting beside his

machine It is an irony because the hangman is not the police or someone pure who has not done

crimes. But it is one of the prisoners in the jail instead, as Orwell written that the hangman is in

the uniform of the prison. Having one prisoner doing a process of killing another prisoner seems

contradict.

In conclusion, Orwell uses irony as one of the ways to illustrate the cruelty of execution

and his disagreement towards execution in the story. Orwell shows that he does not agree with

execution because he thinks no one deserves to be executed. Everyone deserves to live. Also,

people that involved in the process also feel guilty and no one wanted to do it. He thinks that

there is not any benefits from the execution and there should not be execution no matter what

crime someone committed.