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A Hanging
Jul 30, 2015 2:27:40 GMT
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Post by ZacLambert on Jul 30, 2015 2:27:40 GMT
While reading "A Hanging" by George Orwell, it seemed that a re-enactment of the scene in the book was playing in my head. Every detail and every word Orwell used was perfect but made the book unclear in some parts. When Orwell goes to tell us that a Hindu man was being guarded and being prepared to be hung was confusing because we had no idea of the reasoning for the man to be hung. Orwell goes on to explain that the prisoners life is just as good as there's is, and that there is no reason to kill living man with working organs. "This man was not dying, he was alive just as we are alive. All the organs of his body were working." This essay really shows how the other prisoners fear the hangings and how the prisoners feel for the men being hung. Every detail that leads up to the hanging makes the hanging even worse when it happens. I am glad that in today's life, no man has to experience death by hanging as a punishment and I think it should stay that way forever. Overall, Orwell did a great job detailing the hanging and the events leading to it.
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Post by kellyhenderson on Jul 30, 2015 2:56:54 GMT
George Orwell's A Hanging depicts what an execution is like in Burma and how the morals of man should be questioned when given power. IT also questions the personal rituals of those putting another to death, such as how one should act.
It is difficult to imagine what it feels like to be only minutes away from death. This is most obviously expressed by the guards from the prison, George Orwell having stated on page 4, "'For God's sake, hurry up Francis,' he said irritably. 'The man ought to have been dead by this time. Aren't you ready yet?'". The insensitivity shown by the guard by his words "The man ought to have been dead by this time" shows that the morals of this group of people are to be questioned. While the author does not directly describe the prisoner's reaction to this statement, one can imagine that the man died believing that even in hi last moments, he was not cared for, and the guards did not regret killing him. In his perspective of his jailers, his death was more of an inconvenience than the tragedy is truly was.
After the execution, the author states "It seemed quite a homely, jolly scene, after the hanging" on page 8. This mood is to be compared to by the moods of other fictional or nonfictional executions, such as the ones in Steven King's The Green Mile. In this book, each execution is followed by a reflection from both guards and prisoners. The guards sit and try to remember that the men deserved to die for what they did as they are followed by a small sliver of guilt - which the guards in A Hanging do not have - and the prisoners are reminding that they are the next to sit in the electric chair. There is no celebration, only mourning and reflection.
In A Hanging, morals and views on what it means to kill another human are questioned as it tells the tale of one mans walk to the gallows and what follows. It states that the loss of another human life is not something to be celebrated, but to be mourned. It also teaches that the last moments of life are to be cherished, whether it be your own, or someone else's.
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iant
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Post by iant on Jul 30, 2015 9:37:19 GMT
Ian Taylor
Mr. Vitale
AP English 11
30 July 2015
George Orwell's "A Hanging" was a mysterious read. While reading the essay, I could not stop thinking about all the scenarios that could have played out for the Hindu man to have gotten in such a bad spot; my mind was racing and was absolutely FILLED with questions as to what happened. It was a boring read I must admit, but at the same time that is what made it so exciting! Not being able to find out why the entire event was so "toned down" (in a sense, as the man didn't seem to be of too much importance, rather just a man who had committed a crime worthy of being hanged) was what made me want to read more. It was saddening that I was not able to read more, and I truly wish I could have found out what happened afterwards. The amount of detail and imagery in the entire essay helped my imagination immensely and really allowed me understand what was going on. However, something that confused me was how the man started praying, and as a sole believer that there is no "Man who created everything", I really questioned how the man thought that just because he prayed, he would be forgiven of his sins after he has died- as if he would be allowed in some sort of Heaven for it after everything was said and done.
All of that being said, this is one of the better passages that I have read recently. It allowed me, as a reader, to make my own predictions and assumptions as to how the man got there, and what would happen after he was killed for what he did wrong (if he truly did anything wrong in the first place). Those are my favorite types of stories, as I really dislike being limited in the amount of possibilities and options in which an event or scene can unfold or conclude. I still have questions after having read the essay three or four times over, and I am at the point of anxiousness where I want to go to George's house and ask him about it myself, if only he were still alive. To conclude, this was an amazing read and I would love to have the chance to get my hands on another writing/novel like this!
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Post by eeinhaus17 on Jul 30, 2015 15:06:50 GMT
"The Hanging" by George Orwell is what most people think it is about when they hear that title, a hanging. The death of a man who has most likely done a moral wrong. However, as you read this dark essay, you can sense that you can start to feel pity on the man, especially in the environment in which he was killed. The narrator of this essay, spoken in the first person, watches this hanging as it is a daily routine to do, alongside the people in the prison. They do not realize what that man was thinking, yelling to his God and praying seconds away from his death. The worst part about it is they try and hurry the execution up, because they simply wanted breakfast. This is an example of the guards failure to try and put themselves in that terrified prisoner's shoes.
There was one quote that stood out to me, which was said on pages 5 and 6 by the narrator in that scene, "...I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy conscious man...I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide." Whoever this narrator is in that scene, was probably the only person thinking that prior to the hanging. This quote shows the audience that the narrator is aware how cruel taking the life of a live, healthy man is. This gave me relief as I was reading that at least one person cared about this man and was struck by the bitter environment. Sadly, this was short lived.
After the prisoner was executed, the narrator alongside his friends were having a good time and laughing together. They started to drink too, forgetting about what happened prior to them getting together. To make matters worse, "the dead man was a hundred yards away." Orwell included this for a reason, to show how much humanity had changed over the years, in a terrible way. This is just a inhumane thing to do, and Orwell wants the audience to feel symphony toward the prisoner, not knowing what act the prisoner has done put him in this situation. I can not think of any act that the prisoner would of done that was more cold-blooded than the hanging in front of anxious people waiting for a meal in the gallows. Overall, Orwell shows that it is wrong to celebrate after a hanging, but to feel heartbroken, using the change in humanity over the years to convey it.
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Post by lillyswan on Jul 30, 2015 17:12:58 GMT
In the essay A Hanging by George Orwell, the author wrote about one of his experiences serving the colonial government in British-occupied Burma. The authors purpose was to express the wrongness of capital punishment.
A lot of people who will read this essay will think how horrible the people were who partook in this hanging of a prisoner. People ask in their mind, how could anyone kill someone like that? But no one knows the full story. Orwell only gives us his perspective, but maybe the other guards thought this was wrong. Orwell realized half way through the essay that they were killing a live man and you could sense that he felt wrong about it but did he do anything about it? Orwell and probably other guards knew this was wrong but they could not do anything about it unless they would want to die. We should not blame the guards for this because they are not the ones with the power, we should blame who ever is in charge.
"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." You might read this and think they are heartless because they just killed a person and they are acting like nothing happened. I see it as they are just trying to cope with the fact that they did just kill a man. A lot of time when people drink its to forgot someone or something so they can be happy again and I think that’s what the men were trying to do.
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Post by tomg03 on Jul 30, 2015 21:03:55 GMT
The essay "A Hanging" by George Orwell is about a Hindu man sentenced to death by hang. Throughout the essay I never really understood how I should feel. Should I be glad this man was hung or should i be outraged about this mans hanging? The author never informs you of this and it kind of bothered me because it is one of those things in your life that you will never find out and you do want to find out. While i do not agree with hanging I do agree with being put to death for a serious crime, but being hung has to be such a painful and horrible way to die. A thing that bothered me about this essay was the fact that people can watch a man be hung and also that you can sit there peacefully and have a drink while a man 100 yards away from you is hanging by a rope with his eyeballs popping out and blood all over his head. This goes to show that times now are a little different and when people are put to death you can not watch and also they are put to death more peacefully and not rushed to death without being almost 100 percent sure they did it.
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Post by Tyler Dodd on Jul 31, 2015 0:14:12 GMT
Reading George Orwell's, "A Hanging" was a short yet moving experience. The essay made me question my beliefs on what a human life is and what it means to take one away. The introduction grabbed my attention, after the first few sentences i was hooked. I loved the way that the author set the scene to perfectly accommodate the dark mood of the story. The part of the essay that really spoke to me was how the author looked at the situation from a new perspective after seeing the prisoner move to avoid a puddle. Orwell writes, "This man is not dying, he was alive just as we are alive." Thinking about that line I seriously reconsidered my views on the death penalty which we have today and the ethics behind it. What exactly gives one group of people the right to decide who lives or dies? As Orwell says, "we are all walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world. We judge each other and hand out death sentences as if we are somehow morally superior to the man who did the same thing, just outside of the boundaries of American law.
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A Hanging
Jul 31, 2015 1:16:11 GMT
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Post by marissakane on Jul 31, 2015 1:16:11 GMT
This story stood out the most to me because just the word prison being brought up is enough to intruige me. It is crazy to think how one terrible decision can cause you to end up there, and have to deal with all the horrible things that entails. These men were forced to watch this man be hung and watch his last moments of life. The man does not even show any emotion because he knows there is nothing he can do about it. He just has to deal with the fact that he was going to be killed by the government that was supposed to protect us.
This passage shows just how contradicting the government is. . To think that a government that is supposed to save your life and put laws into affect that help the people is the same government that can take your life away. There is bad in every good and good in every evil.This man had a perfectly healthy body with "all the organs of his body digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming" but it was taken away in a instant because the law says what he did was unjust. To the government and prison it is just another prisoner, just another death... but to that person it is their whole life, everything they look forward to is shattered in an instant. After the hanging, the men all went to eat breakfast and talked of other stories of men taken to be hung in a light and casual manner. They did not care as long as it did not affect them. This supports the phrase, " One person's happiness is another person's sorrow".
This relates to the world today because life is so fragile and many times people do not realize this until after one has been taken. All it takes it one mess up, one rope, one lever, to make everything you ever hoped for to become nothing but a lost memory. This essay was very dark and shows the dark sides of the human conscience and how people cover it up with voids like laughter. The essay ends with the fact that these men were laughing at a dead man a hundred yards away , and this shows how callous prison can make a person since they are not treated with the respect they deserve. The prisoners choose not to respect others because I'm prison they are treated like caged animals and soon their minds turn miserable and callous to their actions. What a truly depressing thought to consider.
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A Hanging
Jul 31, 2015 1:24:35 GMT
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Post by efournier on Jul 31, 2015 1:24:35 GMT
While reading "A Hanging" by George Orwell, various topics came to mind and made the reading more interesting. The author was very descriptive especially when discussing feelings of prisoners and their reactions to hangings. The uses of metaphors brings out visual images of what was actually happening in this 1931 time period. For example, the dead man is described "as dead as a stone", just hanging with his toes pointed down. The jail cells are described, "like small animal cages". You can imagine the cell size when the author gives specific information, "cell size 10 feet by 10".
This time period was not the worst but they sure were racist. I was surprised by how this writing is portrayed in this time period. Images of black men in the jail getting ready to be hanged come to mind and a metaphor is used to describe them, "like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water".
I enjoyed how this piece is a little odd and unpredictable while insight was given to individuals' experiences in this prison as well as the reality of the story. At one point everyone was laughing and singing together which was a little creepy and a bit psychotic. People were being hanged day by day and still they drank together along with the wardens and seemed to be having a great time. A quote at the end of the writing stood out to me which was, " we all had a drink together, native and eauropeam alike, quite amicably; the dead man was a hundred yards away".
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kass
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Post by kass on Jul 31, 2015 1:59:46 GMT
After reading "A Hanging", by George Orwell it made me begin to think about death and punishment. I personally do not believe in the death penalty because I would rather the person have to live with what they did, and think about it to regret it, then to just be killed and get the "easy" way out. There is nothing right about harming another human so after reading this i was very taken back by how harsh they are. They did not care about this man whatsoever, they were just happy they weren't him. The hangman seemed like he cared for nobody and that pulling the lever was only helping everyone out. Although before the Hindu man was hung he yelled, "Ram! Ram! Ram!" and the hangman froze up. He did not pull the lever right away, the essay states, "Minutes seemed to pass." It also said, "Suddenly the superintendent made up his mind." This is showing that he, for a moment, had thought about not pulling the lever.
Towards the end of the essay it states, "We all had a drink together, native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a hundred yards away." These men have absolutely no morals and do not care about anybody except themselves. It made me think of how awful some people are today. I don't know what goes through people's minds when they have killed someone. I could not live with myself and for some, like the hangman, it is no big deal.
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Post by Josh Hedum on Jul 31, 2015 3:30:21 GMT
The morbidly, depressing story " A Hanging" descripitively details a random hindu prisoners demise for whatever reason placed him in that situation. The Historic value to the story adds a even more eery depth, to the fact that this was done throughout the early 19th century and earlier. People crowd around to witness the life being taken from somebody who has caused wrong, a sort of recokining to show those what will happen if rules are broken. In the story a dog runs though the courtyard where the hanging is taking place, and all of the people start to get frustrated that this dog is running around. I feel like the writer added this specific detail to resemble innocence, how the people had no tollerance for it at all. I was really taken back by the fact that the prisoner avoids a puddle in his path, like he is clearly going to die why would he do that? But he does it knowing he is still a person with a sole and spirit, and energy to do what any normal person would do. The most despicable part about the story is the end where everyone, afterwards, celebrates and carrys on living like that was perfictally normal. The reason why I can't get too mad about stuff like this being done is because back then in 1931, people thought that that was fine and George Orwell, the writer, fully capured the way people and society would have been like. Societly then thought it was ok, just like people thought descriminating was right, or even having slaves, but for the society we live in now you would be frowned upon if you think any of those things is right.
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Post by juliethearon on Jul 31, 2015 16:59:59 GMT
This essay stood out to me because of the name of it, "A Hanging". A hanging is something horrible to read about but even worse to write about. George Orwell makes this horrible action known in his essay. This essay is about a man narrating the journey of hanging a prisoner. He begins to realize how horrible hanging a prisoner is, as he sees the prisoner being led to the gallows. Although the prisoner is not the same race as the warders, he is a human. The prisoner was alive, just as they were. The prisoners were killed and Orwell knew it was wrong. After the hanging, the guards had to distract themselves from the hanging because they knew it was wrong. They laughed at a joke as if it was hilarious to stop thinking about hanging prisoners knowing it is wrong.
I liked that this essay let us drown ourself in oblivion, in regards to how or why this man is a prisoner. Without knowing this it helped me think about the story more and make up the reason that would make the most sense, race. Although I did not enjoy hearing the details of the hanging, I did enjoy the man realizing it was wrong. I believe the men that do this are horrible. They know what their actions are wrong but still do it by telling themselves that it has to be done. I think that this is relevant today because people are still doing horrible things that they see they shouldn’t do. People still are killing others in hopes to take away the pain or problems they have. People want to believe that if they kill a person everything will get better but they know that it isn’t like that.
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bobby
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Post by bobby on Jul 31, 2015 20:02:56 GMT
While reading A Hanging by George Orwell I began to picture the sight of the jail in my head. setting the scene, "a morning of the rains,a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages." The men in these cages watched as a Hindu man was escorted by six guards to the gallows, all of them aware they would never see him again. The magistrates and the like followed behind the Hindu man and the six guards, no other emotion besides sadness in the tense room. The young men resembling our world today.
When the joyful happy as could be dog runs up wagging his tail the men react no differently they simply stop and try to get rid of the dog, get rid of the joy it is bringing. one man tries to hit the dog with rocks showing they all it is doing it getting in the way.
As the man is places on the stage with the rope around his neck he begins to cry, but everyone just stands back and watches, just as people do in the world today. when something bad is happening most people do not want to get involved and then go back to their daily lives, just like the superintended did after the man was hung. he had acted like something never even happened. This specific story represents the feelings of people today how most will just sit back and watch, and then continue on with their lives like nothing happened.
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Post by Elizabeth Osman on Jul 31, 2015 23:15:11 GMT
While reading George Orwell's "A Hanging" details and descriptive language were used to captivate as well as emotionally attach the reader to the situation. Within eight and a half pages of description, the man being hung turned into a perfect example of a carefully and purposefully created form of life. Before the narrator takes part in the hanging of this man he goes on and ponders how the man is as alive and alert as himself, yet he was being sent to death. The narrator is obviously feeling remorse about assisting in taking a mans life after just having this realization, yet he does nothing to stop it. The irony of the situation is that this essay is just the recorded thoughts of one man present at this hanging. However, after witnessing the same events as the narrator did, the other people present must have been thinking the same thing.
After the author emotionally attached the reader to the man being hung, he follows the natural order of mans thought process when being directly involved in a situation and writes that the man does nothing to stop the hanging even after realizing how wrong it is. But as readers, the illogical aspect of dong nothing to stop the hanging rises to the surface of our thoughts. We have nothing to lose by encouraging the narrator do what is right, not a job or a reputation in our little community set in 1931. Everyday this man sees criminals get hanged, and everyday he thinks these same thoughts about how wrong it is to be doing so. But everyday, he continues to let it happen. And every one of his co-workers continue in this cycle too, never doing anything to stop what they know is wrong from happening. And it comes down to one thing. Desensitization. After time, everyone keeps these convicting thoughts in their head and immoral things continue to happen.
"Evil exists because good does nothing." I'm sure everyone has heard that quote many times throughout their life. Whether from mom on how to deal with a bully or from another encouraging source. Evil continues to happen in this world because everyone is desensitized, but it doesn't start out that way. We slowly allow it to happen to us, ignoring one conviction at a time until it just becomes a grimace on our face or a hard swallow that we try to hide. This essay made me think about how much in my life I ignore just because it would be too difficult to face, or because I am scared that I'd be facing it alone. We think each of our convictions and passions to do right are ours alone and that is where we fail ourselves. But if we all just realized that others have common goals and ideas, dreams they would like to make a reality and worked at it together, we would see a little less evil and a lot more good.
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Post by Elizabeth Osman on Jul 31, 2015 23:15:46 GMT
While reading George Orwell's "A Hanging" details and descriptive language were used to captivate as well as emotionally attach the reader to the situation. Within eight and a half pages of description, the man being hung turned into a perfect example of a carefully and purposefully created form of life. Before the narrator takes part in the hanging of this man he goes on and ponders how the man is as alive and alert as himself, yet he was being sent to death. The narrator is obviously feeling remorse about assisting in taking a mans life after just having this realization, yet he does nothing to stop it. The irony of the situation is that this essay is just the recorded thoughts of one man present at this hanging. However, after witnessing the same events as the narrator did, the other people present must have been thinking the same thing.
After the author emotionally attached the reader to the man being hung, he follows the natural order of mans thought process when being directly involved in a situation and writes that the man does nothing to stop the hanging even after realizing how wrong it is. But as readers, the illogical aspect of dong nothing to stop the hanging rises to the surface of our thoughts. We have nothing to lose by encouraging the narrator do what is right, not a job or a reputation in our little community set in 1931. Everyday this man sees criminals get hanged, and everyday he thinks these same thoughts about how wrong it is to be doing so. But everyday, he continues to let it happen. And every one of his co-workers continue in this cycle too, never doing anything to stop what they know is wrong from happening. And it comes down to one thing. Desensitization. After time, everyone keeps these convicting thoughts in their head and immoral things continue to happen.
"Evil exists because good does nothing." I'm sure everyone has heard that quote many times throughout their life. Whether from mom on how to deal with a bully or from another encouraging source. Evil continues to happen in this world because everyone is desensitized, but it doesn't start out that way. We slowly allow it to happen to us, ignoring one conviction at a time until it just becomes a grimace on our face or a hard swallow that we try to hide. This essay made me think about how much in my life I ignore just because it would be too difficult to face, or because I am scared that I'd be facing it alone. We think each of our convictions and passions to do right are ours alone and that is where we fail ourselves. But if we all just realized that others have common goals and ideas, dreams they would like to make a reality and worked at it together, we would see a little less evil and a lot more good.
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