The audience gets a glimpse into the hanging of a Burmese prisoner in George Orwell's personal essay "A Hanging." He employs techniques, such as the use of simile and imagery, which are effective in appealing to the emotions of the reader. By reaching out to the audience in such a way, Orwell is able to press upon them his negative attitude towards capital punishment.
In the beginning of the passage Orwell discusses the cells of the condemned, comparing them to "small animal cages" (99). The prisoners were truly treated as less than human. They were kept in cells ten feet by ten feet "which were quite bare within except for a plank bed and a pot for drinking water" (99). Orwell continues to compare the way the Hindu prisoner is handled to that of a "fish that is still alive and may jump back into the water" (100). The guards keep a tight grip on the prisoner making sure he does not escape. Finally the authors discusses the "rhythmical" (101) sound "Ram!Ram!Ram!Ram!" (101) that......
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Approximate Word Count: 857
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |