1. George Orwell’s “A Hanging” is set in which one of the following countries?
(A) India
(B) Burma
(C) England
(D) Eurasia
(E) Persia
2. Which one of the following characters does not appear in Orwell’s "A Hanging”?
(A) the hangman, a gray-haired convict in the white uniform of the prison
(B) the superintendent of the jail, [who] was an army doctor, with a gray toothbrush moustache and a gruff voice
(C) Francis, the head jailer
(D) a Hindu prisoner, a puny wisp of a man, with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes
(E) an old Indian judge, with a gold-rimmed monocle and a handlebar moustache
3. In Orwell’s “A Hanging,” what is the one word that the prisoner cries out (repeatedly)?
(A) “Innocent!”
(B) “Help!”
(C) “Ram!”
(D) “No!”
(E) “Stella!”
4. What simple action by the prisoner caused the narrator to realize for the first time "what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man"?
(A) saying "God bless you"
(B) avoiding a puddle
(C) petting the dog
(D) praying
(E) calling for his daughter
5. At the very end of Orwell’s “A Hanging,” what do the remaining characters (i.e., all but the prisoner and, presumably, the dog) do?
(A) pray for the soul of the dead prisoner
(B) discuss the ethical dimensions of their behavior
(C) shoot the dog
(D) hang another Hindu
(E) laugh and drink whiskey
6.What is the theme of the story, (the message, the point)?
7.What is the setting of the story? How does it significant to the plot?
8.Explain the puddle in “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.”
9.What is your opinion of the story? Give a reason why that supports your answer.
10.This is a hypothetical here: How would you feel knowing the hanged man was completely innocent? Do you think the story would be different if the main character also knew this and how would it be different?
Note about Point of View in this story:
It was about forty yards to the gallows. I watched the bare brown back of the prisoner marching in front of me. He walked clumsily with his bound arms, but quite steadily, with that bobbing gait of the Indian who never straightens his knees. At each step his muscles slid neatly into place, the lock of hair on his scalp danced up and down, his feet printed themselves on the wet gravel. And once, in spite of the men who gripped him by each shoulder, he stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path.
(Here the narrator shifts his point of view from that of a disinterested observer to one who identifies intimately with the prisoner. In classical terms, this sort of identification is known as ethopoeia)
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.