A Hanging By George Orwell Analysis

Morality Hangs in the Balance George Orwell, one of the most perceptive writers of his age, portrays the inherent wrong of capital punishment in his short prose work, “A Hanging”. More specifically, Orwell’s story relates a dramatic experience of the writer while he was working in the Indian Imperial Police in 1920’s colonial Burma. The Author John Rodden notes how depressed Orwell was there as he mentioned, “he returned from what lie called ‘five wasted years’ as a policeman in British- occupied Burma” (70). It is based on Blair-Orwells experience of working in the Indian Imperial Police. The story recounts the dramatic scene of an unnamed prisoner in his last hour. It also illustrates the horrible wrong in the execution

One man, I recall, clung to the bars of his 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 was very troublesome!” (103).

This phrase points out the callous nature of functionaries implies there and it also suggests how high a person values one’s life. Those wardens did realize the difficulty of the situation as well and felt the value of the one who was hanging. This shows the immorality of capital punishment. The horrific irony in this statement is, of course, that the hanging is shown as burden for them (superintendent and the others), especially when they encounter the man who does not want to die.

Orwell scholar Paul Melia

The author describes that unexpected moment when “a dog, come goodness knows whence, had appeared in the yard. It was a large woolly dog, half Airedale, half pariah. For a moment, it pranced round us, and then, before anyone could stop it, it had made a dash for the prisoner, and jumping up tried to lick his face” (100). That dog was not any ordinary canine: it was a hybrid dog from England and Asia. It is strange that it even tries to lick the prisoner. Most dogs who are loyal to their owners always seems to lick their owners with a keen love. So, it might infer that the dog seems to be loyal and friendly to the prisoner. Ironically, that dog also tries to convey some message to the guards by barking loudly in order to stop the execution. Maybe that was the messenger from the god who was trying to deliver some message to the prisoner. On the other hand, that incident shows that even a dog can see the humanity and innocence of the prisoner. The inability of the humans to see the flaws of taking another person’s life makes suggests they are somehow even inferior to the dogs in sensing the morality of certain situations. Throughout the story, Orwell portrays a realistic picture of that incident which is so convincing a message of abolition. All the ideas and words which he mixed up in his prose are completely against capital punishment.