A Hanging by George Orwell

A Hanging
By George Orwell

Question 1:

In the story, A Hanging, George Orwell's apparent condemnation on capital punishment is revealed through the narrator's point of view. His disapproval is especially obvious in the narrator's epiphany of "destroy(ing) a healthy, conscious person."

Upon realization about the horror of capital punishment, the narrator's disgust conveys George Orwell's desired inference – the 'unspeakably wrongness' of hanging a man. George Orwell employs the use of description, listing and repetition to drive home his view on capital punishment.

In the tenth paragraph the narrator describes the workings of the human body still taking place in the Indian man, "All the organs of his body were working – bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming –all toiling away in solemn foolery." The listing of the different body parts emphasizes how many natural systems the hanging is going to disrupt. Each system listed provides a rhythmic build up of how disgusted the narrator is and it also builds up to a climax of which the narrator scorns out at the 'foolery' of the body, almost in anger and in a warning. Orwell's disapproval here is clear. At other parts of the paragraph listing is also used to portray Orwell's displeasure with capital punishment, "seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world". In this sentence Orwell appeals to the readers' senses to empathize with the Indian man; allowing the readers to relate on a human-to-human level with the Indian man. The technique employed here by Orwell serves to indirectly draw from his readers the real tragedy in capital punishment –"cutting a life short when it is in full tide." Repetition is also evident in the paragraph, "he was alive just as we are alive". Orwell reasons against capital punishment by repeating the adjective 'alive' creating stress on the unjust of hanging.

Irony is also present in the story; it highlights the underlying sadness of capital punishment. "'He’s all right,' said the superintendent", the matter of fact tone in the voice of the superintendent draws attention to how unfeeling and indifferent people are to death. The irony behind it all is that the dead man is described as 'all right'. The irony is also used to heighten the tragedy of the apathy towards the death. In the last paragraph, "We all began laughing again. At that moment Francis' anecdote seemed extraordinarily funny. We all had a drink together, native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a hundred yards away." Here, Orwell places life and death side by side, contrasting liveliness and death, thus illustrating how easily the men can forget the hanging. The truncated sentence ending the story creates impact to the ugly side of purposefully stopping a life; reiterating Orwell's condemnation towards capital punishment.

Question 2:

FOR: Capital punishment rids a society of its worst criminals. Society is also reassured that the same crime will not be committed by the same criminal especially if the criminal is a serial killer. The criminal also will not pose future threat to prison officers or to society after release. The cost of dealing with the criminals such as long term imprisonment may have an indirect negative effect on society's other more urgent needs such as healthcare services, this also applies specially if a country's resources are particularly strained. Another reason supporting capital punishment is retribution as it can be seen as an acceptable reason for the death penalty. Some may state the old fashioned principal of "lex talens" (an eye for an eye) thus justifying capital punishment. It is also arguable that just the knowledge that a death penalty exist may deter crime, stop someone from pulling the trigger or going at someone with a knife.

AGAINST: There is the human rights argument that capital punishment goes against a person's most basic right –the right to live. Some forms of execution such as lethal injections and electrocutions are not always smooth and painless. If there is pain involve in executing the death penalty then it will be considered as a form of torture which is inhumane in this modernised day and age. Prisoners who are kept on the death row for a long period of time that in itself a form of torture not only for the criminal but also for his or her family. There is also no concrete evidence illustrating that capital punishment deters crime, in fact when countries like Canada abolish the death penalty an increase in crime rates has yet to be seen. There are come cases whereby legal systems may make mistakes and the death penalty cannot be reversed. This will also bring about the loss of respect people have for their country’s law system. Ultimately innocent lives may be lost due to the mistakes made.

Question 3:

I believe that all punishment issued must have a degree of fairness and justice. Enforcing the death penalty should depend on the seriousness of the crime committed. Although most societies view murder as an odious crime and the criminal should be taken to the gallows external factors related to the crime committed should be thoroughly checked and considered. I personally feel that punishment is supposed to be for the reformation of the offender. Like a teacher issuing detention to a student who has repeatedly reported late for class, the detention serves to prevent the student from making the same mistake again. However in the case of capital punishment, the criminal is denied his chances of reformation; capital punishment eliminates the possibility that the criminal may turn over a new leaf. I feel that while capital punishment claims to deter similar crimes (especially murder) to be committed in the future, the court of justice then 'murders' the murderer. The underlying irony of the situation then renders the claim made pointless. If then however, the death penalty should be justified, the court should only enforce it under stringent standards and if the criminal poses as a continuing threat to society, for example a serial killer who is unremorseful, remains unchanged even after counseling and proved that he will kill again if given a chance to.