A Hanging - (Essay - non-fiction) by George Orwell
Style, Structure, Language and Themes explored
The opening paragraph highlights the inhumane, animal-like conditions of the Burmese prisoners about to be hanged.
Orwell uses the weather conditions to plunge us into a sombre mood: “ a sodden morning of the rains” and “a sickly light”. The scene also contains bleak similes: “like small animal cages” and “like yellow tinfoil”
Contrasting description of the prisoner
Orwell continues to help us sympathise with the Hindu prisoner about to die
pa·thos
pa·thos (pâ¹thòs´, -thôs´) noun
1.A quality, as of an experience or a work of art, that arouses feelings of pity, sympathy, tenderness, or sorrow.
2.The feeling, as of sympathy or pity, so aroused. [Greek, suffering.]
PrisonerPathos
“puny wisp of a man” - weak
“shaven head” - loss of human dignity
“vague liquid eyes” - soft, feminine, mystical, almost remote from the horror of what is happening
“moustache too big” - faintly ludicrous, almost comical.
“he stood unresisting” / His Gaolers
“Six tall Indian warders”
“with rifles and fixed bayonets”
“and handcuffed him”
“lashed his arms”
We are never told what his crime was in case we might lose sympathy for him.
Dream like quality
The pace here is slow and the atmosphere is almost that of a dream “ a bugle call desolately thin in the wet air”
Contrast between the Superintendent and the Prisoner
PrisonerSymbolises the oppressed Burmese nation
“he stood unresisting”
“vague liquid eyes”
“moustache absurdly too big”
(native lack of precision)
Silent / Superintendent
Symbolises harsh British Imperial rule
brittle, lacking human compassion
“moodily prodded the ground”
“tooth-brush moustache”
(military precision)
Irony that a doctor should hang people
(Hippocratic oath)
Gruff voice
Speech tells us much about the way in which the characters are meant to be portrayed
Francis (head jailer) “Yes sir, yes sir” he bubbles” portrayed as a bungling twit (just as the arrogant British would have viewed any native Burman.
By Contrast - the authoritative remarks of the superintendent - “well, quick march, then”
The unthinkable happens
Suddenly, the appearance of a friendly barking dog brings farce and chaos to the British love of stiff pomp and ceremony. They actually appear ridiculous!
Ironically, it is only the dog which shows any natural and spontaneous reaction towards the prisoner:
Before - affection: “jumping up tried to lick his face”
After - shock + distress: “it stood among the weeds, looking timorously out at us”
Perhaps the dog symbolises the spirit of the Burmese people, a spirit crushed by the oppressive methods of enforcement used against them.
Infuriated at appearing ridiculous the superintendent roars:
“Who let that bloody brute in here?”
However, (ironically) what is undignified and brutish is the killing of another human being.
In a flash of understanding “he stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle”
A tiny incident illuminates everything for Orwell. Here Orwell experiences an almost mystical, almost religious experience. In a flash, he appreciates the utter, utter wrongness of killing another human being. For all its military ritual this was still murder. Yet, despite these feelings, the mask that he is forced to wear through the role he has accepted prevents him from speaking out or acting to stop the hanging.
The Prisoner:
Before death:
It is the prisoner who demonstrates true dignity as he chants “Ram! Ram! Ram!” - he prepares to meet his death seeking his God.
The British pomp is just an empty sham!
After his death:
The scene is shown for what it is and the ugly language used mirrors this.
“clanking noise” and “the rope was twisting on itself” [like a serpent]
The superintendent poked the bare brown body (like a piece of meat) - “He’s all right” - he should know; remember he’s a doctor!
True dignity and hideous, fawning playacting
After the tension of the execution a jolly meeting takes place within 100 yards of the corpse. It is an undignified betrayal that the prisoner’s own countrymen collaborate with the occupying British powers.
Style
Crisp and sharp - like a journalist’s - clear, detailed, economic. The vocabulary is clear and uncomplicated.
The sentence structure is fairly simple yet somewhat choppy due to Orwell’s liking for the comma.
Similes - Orwell’s fondness fro similes has already been shown.
Anti-climax- “very slowly revolving, as dead as a stone”
or
“native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a hundred yards away.”
Symbolism - see earlier
Realism–
The brisk, unfeeling mode of speech so accurately mirrors the attitude of the British.
And
the mode of speech of the Burmese jailer, Francis.
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Point-of-view (With whom does Orwell identify?)
The essay begins with the use of “we” , therefore Orwell clearly identifies with the British oppressors - at first.
However, he later switches to “I” - speaking for himself, Orwell. Now he gives us an insight into his most private and personal thoughts and feelings:
“I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short.”
Structure of the Essay
The structure is largely chronological (following in a logical way what actually happened). He relates it, however, in a narrative manner like a fly-on-the-wall.
Social Comment
We become aware of the enormous social gulf between the strutting, arrogant, educated British and the superior, patronising, way in which they treat the Burmese.
Note the way that the whole party were unsettled by the dignity that they observed in the prisoner - they have to resort to belittling his memory (by recalling the fact that “he urinated on the floor of his cell” [when he heard he was to be executed].
The ordinary Burmese were treated as little better than cattle who viewed the British as demi-gods.
Themes Explored
1)Harsh, cruel immoral nature of British Imperialism in Burma
2)Degrading conditions in which humans were kept
3)Real dignity has nothing to do with pomp and ceremony. Real dignity comes from deep within a human heart (like the prisoners)
4)Essay is deeply anti-capital punishment.
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