Napatsorn Techasooksant

1202

Nature of humanity
A Hanging

was written by an English novelist George Orwell and first published in

1931. This story was inspired by his experience when he was an Indian imperial, having a chance
to witness the process of execution of a Hindu man in Burma. The narrator was watching the
process the entire time since the man walked out from the condemned cells, heading to the
gallows to receive his punishment ,and eventually got hung by the jailer. In the story, Orwell
explores the absence of humanity in the story by using mood, symbolism, characterization and
literary devices.
In the first paragraph, the setting reflects the feeling of the jailer towards the prisoner as
the mood of the story shows by the description of the surrounding environment as a slickly
light, yellow tinfoil and a sodden morning. By using those words lead us to imagine an
ominous atmosphere and the gloomy mood in the situation. This gloomy environment shows the
depression in the cells the prisoners live. The narrator expresses his feelings of the ominous
conditions that foreshadows the death of the prisoner in the ending of this story. Moreover,
condemned cells, a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like a small cages. Each cell
measured about ten feet by ten and was quite bare within except for a plank bed and plot of
drinking water (p.1), it shows how the cell and the surrounding environment are very cramped,
uncomfortable, stressful and depress. The description of the prisoners living conditions
demonstrates that the cell is awful to keep human in that kind of place. Therefore, this setting
highlights the cruel and inhumane feelings that the jailer have toward the man.
Orwell does not just use only mood to express human cognizance but he also uses water
puddle as a symbol to represent the conscience mind. On the way to the gallows, the narrator

states that 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 a full tide (p.1). Water Puddle is a
symbol used for the last obstacle of the condemned man, as the man tries to avoid the water
puddle. This shows that the condemned man is calm and does not panic about his death as for the
narrator describes that his brain still remembered, foresaw, reasoned -- reasoned even about
puddles (p.2). This line demonstrates that the man still have a consciousness and have an ability
to think not to step into the puddle which makes him uncomfortable. However, the narrator
realizes that the man is a human because human will do things that will make them feel
comfortable. With all the above reasons, the symbol of water puddle lead the narrator to the
moment of realization that the man is a human and his life should not be taken by another human
even though the superintendent knows that the prisoner is a human but he still considers to kill
the man.
The characterization of the superintendent is shown by his action towards the prisoner to
reveal inhumanness. In the beginning of the story, The prisoners cant get their breakfast till this
jobs over (p. 1), the superintendent s character shows that he does not care and see the value
of humans life. He just wants to finish the execution as soon as possible, so everyone can have
breakfast. In contrast, after the death of the prisoner, the feeling of the superintendent completely
change. The superintendent action after the execution is inhumane which is shown in the last
paragraph, We all began laughing again. At that moment Franciss anecdote seemed
extraordinarily funny. We all had a drink together, native European alike, quite amicably. The
dead man was a hundred yard away, (p. 3). In order to leave the execution and celebrate, the
narrator and the superintendent must lose their humanity. It shows that they stop caring about the

prisoner and the superintendents consciousness is gone. Even though, The dead man was a
hundred yard away(p.3), but he can still happy without thinking about the dead man. The action
of the superintendent clearly emphasize that it is not fair to kill a human being, pretend like
nothing happened and does not have any shame.
Throughout the story A Hanging, Orwell uses simile as a literary device to indicate the
absence of humanity. As the warders prepare the man to the gallows, the narrator notices how the
man had been treated like an animal. These actions are describe as it was like men handling a
fish which is still alive(p.1). It shows the moment that the man stop being human and starts to
become animal-like as the narrator compares the man with the fish. In addition, the narrator also
mentioned the place where the prisoner lives as an like small animal cage(p.1). The narrator
continues this comparison between prisoners and animals which highlights the helplessness of the
prisoner which is sympathy. This literary device highlights the cruel treatment of the prisoner as
the superintendent is seeing the prisoner as an animal.
George Orwells story A Hanging illustrates an absence of humanity by using four
important techniques: mood, symbolism, characterization, and simile. Firstly, mood indicates the
cruel conditions in the setting. Secondly, the symbol of the puddle reveals the epiphany of the
narrator. Thirdly, the characteristic of the superintendent emphasizes his inhumanness toward the
prisoners. Lastly, simile is used to reveal how others treat the prisoner as an animal. In humanity,
human should be treated equally, no matter what one does and who one is, human should not be
treated like an animal and it is not acceptable to kill another person.