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Task

Tasks: A Hanging by George Orwell

A primitive gallows of the type used in the Wild West. The photo has been colour manipulated into different brownish colours.
Image: RightBrainPhotography / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Discuss:

Work with a partner or in a group. As you go through the questions, find passages from the text that support your answer.

  1. Study the first paragraph more closely and comment on the word choice and imagery that Orwell is using. How does this affect the mood of this paragraph, as well as the rest of the text?

  2. Consider Orwell’s description of the prisoner and his wardens in paragraph two and four. What impression do you get of this man compared to the men who guard him? Do the descriptions contribute to the message of the text?

  3. What is the prison like? Why do you think Orwell chose to include such detailed description of the prisoner’s conditions?

  4. In the third paragraph, the superintendent is introduced. How would you describe this man? Consider both his comments throughout the text and his physical appearance.

  5. The head jailer, Francis, is a Dravidian. What is a Dravidian? What is your impression of Francis? What role does he play in this text? What role do you think people like Francis played in the British Empire?

  6. Why has Orwell introduced a dog into the text? How does the dog behave before and after the hanging? What does this dog symbolise?

  7. On his way to the gallows, the prisoner 'stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path'. What can you read into this small sidestep?

  8. The narrator of this text is Orwell himself. How does he feel about the events that are taking place? What is Orwell trying to tell us through this text?

Study:

In the expandable box below, you fill find some quotes from the text. Read them carefully, then discuss their importance and how they relate to the message of the essay.

Quotes

  1. We were waiting outside the condemned cells, a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages. Each cell measured about ten feet by ten and was quite bare within except for a plank bed and a pot of drinking water.

  2. 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. ... 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.

  3. I let go of the dog, and it galloped immediately to the back of the gallows; but when it got there it stopped short, barked, and then retreated into a corner of the yard, where it stood among the weeds, looking timorously out at us.

  4. The superintendent reached out with his stick and poked the bare body; it oscillated, slightly. “He’s all right,” said the superintendent. He backed out from under the gallows, and blew out a deep breath. The moody look had gone out of his face quite suddenly. He glanced at his wrist-watch. “Eight minutes past eight. Well, that’s all for this morning, thank God.”

  5. Ach, sir, it iss worse when they become refractory! One man, I recall, clung to the bars of hiss cage when we went to take him out. You will scarcely credit, sir, that it took six warders to dislodge him, three pulling at each leg. We reasoned with him. “My dear fellow,” we said, “think of all the pain and trouble you are causing to us!” But no, he would not listen! Ach, he wass very troublesome!

Analyse:

Study the text carefully and answer the questions below.

  1. The most significant difference between a short story and a personal essay is that a short story is normally fiction, while a personal essay is autobiographical.
    What elements of a short story do we find in 'A Hanging'? And what features does it have that makes it qualify as an essay?

  2. In this essay, Orwell uses several literary devices to emphasise his points. Go through the list of literary devices mentioned in the expandable box below (comparisons, irony, and imagery). Then go through the essay one more time. Find examples where Orwell uses these devices, and explain what is achieved by using them.

Literary devices

Comparison (metaphors and similies)

A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are different without using comparison words.
For example: ‘The curtain of night fell upon us.’ Here night is compared to a curtain.

A simile is a figure of speech in which two essentially dissimilar objects or concepts are expressly compared with one another through the use of 'like' or 'as'.
For example: ‘Life is like a box of chocolates.’ Here, the word 'like' makes it clear that we are comparing 'life' to 'a box of chocolates'.

Irony

In literature, we say that it is irony when there is a difference between expectation and reality. For example, when there is a difference between what something appears to mean versus its literal meaning.

Irony often stems from an unanticipated response (verbal irony) or an unexpected outcome (situational irony).

  • Example of verbal irony: Telling a quiet group, 'don’t everybody speak all at once'.

  • Example of situational irony: a fire station that burns down.

Imagery

Imagery refers to writing that makes use of descriptive language. Descriptive language and figures of speech appeal to a reader’s senses of sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound, as well as internal emotion and feelings

An example from The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne:

"Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world."

Write:

  1. Write a text where you discuss the use of imagery and irony in 'A Hanging'. What is the effect of these literary devices in this text?

  2. Write a character analysis of Francis, the superintendent, and the prisoner.

  3. In this essay, Orwell clearly opposes the practice of capital punishment. Write a text where you discuss how his views on capital punishment are presented through imagery and language choice. Give examples from the text.
  4. Does the use of humour make it easier for Orwell to convey the message of the text? Discuss. Refer to examples from the text.

Research:

Choose one of the tasks. Share your findings in a group.

  1. When was capital punishment abolished in Great Britain, and what were the arguments to abolish it?

  2. The death penalty is still part of Myanmar law. Find out when it was last used, and for what crimes the death penalty is given.

  3. The death penalty is still in use in the United States. Find out how common it is, how long it takes from conviction until the sentence is carried out, and for what crimes the death penalty is given.

  4. What are the arguments in favour of the death penalty, and what are the arguments against? Find out, then decide what you think about the issue.

Extra challenging research tasks

The following tasks require more work than the ones above. Choose one of them if you would like a challenge.

  1. Many philosophers have argued in favour of or against the death penalty. Choose one and find out about their ideas.

  2. What does the phrase 'sanctity of life' mean? Does it imply that from a religious stand-point there should be no death penalty?

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