Commentary on George Orwell's "A Hanging"
George Orwell was the nom de plume of Eric Arthur Blair. Blair was the son of an English government official working in India. He grew up in England but joined the Indian Imperial Police. His stint with the police is, more than likely, the fount of inspiration for this work. The attitude of the narrator, which is more than likely fashioned after the author's own feelings and beliefs, evolves from ignorant indifference to horrid understanding, and finally to distant relief. The tone of the first portion of the text is one of disregard for humanity of the condemned. The jailers and magistrates do not acknowledge the fact that the man they must kill, as well as the others condemned to die, are people. They (the convicts) were animals in their (the warders') keep until they could be disposed of. "In some of them (cells earlier described as "small animal cages") brown, silent men were squatting at the inner bars, with their blankets draped round them. " The narrator seems to be unaware of the plight of these human beings as is expressed in the following simile describing the way in which the man condemned to die was handled. "It was like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water." This is also
Whether or not George Orwell drew from his own experiences as a police officer is inconsequential. Orwell was able to create a dynamic character who experiences an evolution in understanding and emotion that begins with ignorant indifference which is startlingly transformed into horrific understanding, that, in turn, is spurned for the more comfortable, distant relief. After connecting with the condemned man on an intimate intelligent level, the narrator is deeply unsettled. This condition is only aggravated when, after being led up to the gallows, "the prisoner began crying out to his god. It was a high, reiterated cry of 'Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!'... The dog answered the sound with a whine." This passage demonstrates the fact that not only had the narrator come to an understanding of the fact that the man condemned to die was, indeed, human, but he realized the severity and the atrocity of the act which he was about to watch and even condone. The prisoner's chant was so disturbing that the narrator wished the deed to be done, the life of a fellow man ended, rather than listen to the chant any longer. "...oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable noise." This interest in self above others leads to the final evolution of the narrator's attitude. another allusion to the non-human interpretation of the condemned in the eyes of the narrator. Final
Some common words found in the essay are:
Imperial Police, Ram Ram', George Orwell, Blair Blair, ignorant indifference, condemned die, understanding narrator, distant relief, abstract symbol, george orwell, horrific understanding,
Approximate Word count = 923
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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