“A Hanging” by George Orwell was a gruesome essay that focused on the insensitivities of humans and how they often take their ‘role’ or ‘job’ in a community for granted. This essay through the use of imagery, description, irony, similes, sound, symbol, ambiguities and emotion and tone thoroughly expresses its central idea on the insensitivity of human nature. The essay has strong emotions, power and a pace which all help to enhance the central idea.
This essay had one major ambiguity that touched upon a very controversial and ironic topic. This ambiguity was that it is not once mentioned what the prisoners crime was and what he was being punished for. However, if this was mentioned many could argue the wrong or right in killing humans based off of the crime the human has committed. The irony and controversy in the essay is caused by the ambiguity because many would argue that no matter what crime someone has committed they should be given the opportunity to justify their mistake and also that hanging someone no matter what they’ve done is a crime within itself. Therefore, shouldn’t the person hanging the ‘criminal’ also be considered ‘a criminal’? This controversy and irony helps build strength for the argument of the essay about the insensitivity of humans and how many people can take their ‘job’ for granted.
Similes were used a few times in the essay, often to describe the situation of the hanging man and to create some sympathy towards him in order to better understand the central idea. “It was like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water,” (Orwell, 1) and “He was dangling with his toes pointed straight downwards, very slowly revolving, as dead as a stone,” (Orwell, 2) were both similes use to describe the prisoner and the state he was in and it is evident that in the context of both, the men surrounding him don’t have much sympathy for him or else he would not be in that position. The similes were quite essential in strengthening the imagery and descriptions of the prisoner in the essay.
Imagery on its own is also used quite often throughout the essay and is supported by great descriptions that are full of emotion. “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, 2) This quotation used strong emotion, description and pace to enhance the kinesthetic imagery and allow the reader the feel the tension of the moment that the prisoners are all suffering through. Though it could be argued that the narrator is being sympathetic to the prisoner it also seems as if he is a bit petrified that it could have been him in that position. However, similar to this quotation many images are later created about the prisoner being hung which do not show much sympathy towards the prisoner at all. “The steady, muffled crying from the prison went on and on, ‘Ram! Ram! Ram!’ never faltering for an instant…each cry another second of life; the same thought was in all our minds: oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable noise!” (Orwell, 3) This quotation is another great representation of not only the kinesthetic imagery and the use of tone, sound and pace to enhance that but also an addition to the idea that humans can be quite immoral. As mentioned by the narrator it is evident that they have become impatient with the tension of the killing, however, if it is that painful to watch someone being killed you can only imagine how the person hung is feeling at that moment with no one fighting for his life but himself and his prayers and perhaps the dog.
This leads us to the next point, which is that the dog could be seen as a symbol that represents the carelessness of humans and that though none of them seem to care and later have a celebration the dog seems somewhat panicked or worried for the hung prisoner. “The dog answered the sound with a whine.” (Orwell, 3) Though this quotation isn’t very significant it can represent the care the dog has for the prisoner as the humans are becoming impatient with the noise and want to get rid of it soon, the dog seems to want to rid the human from having to make that noise, from the way he responds to what has happened. “but when it got there it stopped short, barked, and then retreated into the corner of the yard… looking timorously at us,”(Orwell, 3) in comparison to the reaction of the men or bystanders of the incident, “We all had a drink, native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a hundred yards away.” (Orwell, 4) This evidently shows the sensitivity of the dog towards the dead man, compared to the humans who are having a celebration and laughing and having a good time after having committed a crime themselves.
Sound was quite powerful in the essay and really added to the emotion. Pace was used strongly throughout to enhance the sound for many parts. An example would be the slow repetition of the prayer the prisoner is repeating at a steady rate, “Ram! Ram! Ram!” (Orwell, 3) The continuing of this shows that the death is happening quite slowly otherwise the noise would have faded fairly quick and in an abrupt manner. The slow pace almost makes us realize the pain of the prisoner and torture he is being put through which greatly affects the emotion or feel of the essay.
The insensitivity of humans is highlighted in many parts of the essay. A few key parts would be symbols such as the dog and how it was more sympathetic to the prisoner than even the surrounding humans. The celebration they have directly after he has died also greatly reflects on how careless they are of the crime they have themselves just committed. As previously mentioned they were quite selfish, “oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable noise!” (Orwell, 3) This quotation evidently shows that the bystanders care more about what they have to suffer through rather than the pain the man being hung is going through. Later, after the prisoner has passed away, the superintendent says “HE’S all right,” (Orwell, 3) which was also quite ironic as the man is now dead and therefore it cannot be said he is alright at all, but is almost the opposite of that.
The previously mentioned points and literary features all majorly affect the central idea of the essay and help to enhance it. George Orwell uses imagery along with a major ambiguity to express the feelings of the narrator on the insensitivity of humans when it comes to fixing the wrong by doing wrong in attempts to make it right. The essay effectively displays many other key features such as pace, sound, symbol, similes and irony to further enhance the main features and therefore, establishing a powerful central idea.
