Literary Devices In The First Hangman

The narrator of the poem is a bystander to what is happening in the square, and eventually due to his inaction is hung. The narrator describes, “And so we ceased, and asked no more … Then through the town the Hangman came and called in the empty streets my name” (Ogden 20, 22). The narrator is supposed to at first be seen as one with the group, referring to everyone as we, until he stands out by mentioning himself. So, the narrator was always the one at the end, but in the beginning, the narrator narrated as if they were the collective conscious thoughts of the group.
Three different literary devices that are utilized by the author of “Hangman” are personification, hyperbole, and metaphor. The narrator notices, “The next day’s sun looked mildly down on roof and street in our

The Hangman taunts, “First the alien, then the Jew … I did no more than you let me do” (Ogden 29). If the townspeople had not let the hangman murder the people that he did, none of this would have happened. But no one stood up for those killed, and so the cycle continued. There are many examples of scenarios similar to this happening in history, one of the most well-known being the Salem witch trials. Jess Blumberg, a journalist for the Smithsonian magazine, wrote of the history of the Salem witch trials. Blumberg stated, “Phips, in response to these pleas and his own wife’s questioning as a suspected witch, prohibited further arrests and released many accused witches” (Blumberg par. 12). This is an example of people taking action, and while it took a while, getting what they wanted. They spoke up against unjust accusations, and it ended up working. If the townspeople, including the narrator, had attempted this in “Hangman” it very likely would have worked. They could have saved many innocent lives by just speaking up, feeling empathy, and not remaining