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'A Hanging' - Coggle Diagram
'A Hanging'
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PUDDLE INCIDENT
"He stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path"
This is the turning point in the story where Orwell realises that he is taking away the life of a living, breathing man whose body is still perfectly functioning.
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"unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide”
The word choice of "unspeakable" shows how the act of taking away someones life is too despicable to describe in words which emphasises Orwell's ant-capital punishment attitude.
DOG INCIDENT
"Who let that bloody brute in here"
Ironic, since it is actually the guards who are behaving in a brutish manner as they march a man to his death, not the dog who has been very friendly towards the prisoner.
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"A dreadful thing had happened - a dog"
A dog that is full of happiness and life is completely unaware of the cruel dehumanising events that are taking place. It is "waggling its whole body" and "wild with glee" which symbolises the life and happiness that radiating off the dog.
BEFORE/DURING EXECUTION
"Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!"
The repetition of this phrase shows how the prisoner begins calling out to his god one last time before his death to try and gain forgiveness since it is no use calling out to the men around him and makes the reader feel uncomfortable as they cannot escape his cries.
"Everyone had changed colour"
This is when everyone realises the gravity of the situation and what they are about to do, shows it's started to affect not just the prisoner but everyone around him.
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SETTING
"A sickly light"
More pathetic fallacy which creates a sinister atmosphere. It also refers to the unnatural light in the prison and how the process of capital punishment is unnatural and inhumane.
"...a sodden morning of the rains"
This is pathetic fallacy which shows the miserable weather that reflects the miserable, depressing, bleak atmosphere of the prison and the gloominess of the prisoner and Orwell.
AFTER EXECUTION
"...looking timorously at us"
Earlier in the essay the dog is described as a brute, it's aware of the cruelty that the prisoner has faced. A dog once full of joy, is now cowering in the corner and is almost expressing sympathy towards the now dead prisoner.
"Very slowly revolving, as dead as a stone"
Graphic description which emphasises his lack of life; the simile compares the prisoner to an inanimate object, which could be a coping mechanism for the guards by making the prisoner less than them.
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