Nattanicha Siamnikorn (Mimi) 1201

A Hanging

A Hanging is written in a short essay by George Orwell: Eric Arthur

Blairs pen name. He was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic.
Orwell is famous for his awareness of social injustice, opposition to
totalitarianism and outspoken support of democratic socialism pieces of work.
A Hanging is written from 1922 to 1927, while the author was serving as a
British Imperial Police in Burma, he saw the execution of criminal. Therefore,
this short essay was first published in August 1931 in The Adelphi, the British
literary magazine. In this essay, George Orwell uses a variety of Literary
Devices to build tension in A Hanging. For instance, foreshadow, symbolism,
oxymoron, irony and simile to create deep connection between readers and
characters along the story until the end.

The first literary device is foreshadowing- a warning or indication of

future events- as presented in the essay, A sickly light, like yellow tinfoil,
which warns the reader things will go badly after they continue reading. The
word sickly make the story feel sick and depressed. The light is compared
with yellow tinfoil where it describes the light as an artificial object.

The second device Orwell chose is Symbolism. It is anything that stands

for something other than its literal meaning. The dog is one of the symbol in A
Hanging, it represents for conscience of the writer who is the policeman. A
dog indicates us what the policeman is thinking. Someone managed to catch
the dogput my handkerchief through its collar and moved off once more, with
dog still straining and whimpering. Orwell implied the policeman is at first
confused whether what he should do with his conscience. However, he managed
to grab the dog by the neck, authors inner feeling, referring that he managed to
be able to control his feeling. At the end, in the last 3 words, he still struggling
with his own conscience.

Next is oxymoron which is two contrasting words putting together to

create more drama in the story. As stated in the essay, half Airedale, half
pariah. Orwell balancing between 2 sides of different types of dog which
consists of the normal breed and wild dog. Normally, these 2 types of dog
cannot breed together but the author chooses to combine them because it refers
to his good side of inner feeling and evil thoughts contradicting inside him, the
policeman.

Irony is the mostly used literary device in A Hanging. Irony is the

expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the
opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. As presented in the story,
He stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path. Orwell expressed that
Nattanicha Siamnikorn (Mimi) 1201

the criminal will die soon, he knows his life is gone. In this case, water
represents life as he soon knows that he will no longer be able to live. Then,
The handman, a grey-haired convict referring to a pioneer to hang prisoner.
Next, The dog answered the sound with a whine represented the Authors
conscience coming up again.
Lastly, I let go of the dog meaning the author let conscience free away from
his thought.

Lastly, the final literary device used by George Orwell is simile- a figure
of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a
different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. As stated in
the story, The Indians had gone grey like bad coffee. referred to the soldier
expresses fear during the time they had to kill the prisoner. Next, bayonets
were wavering. Orwell described the knifes on the end of the rifle are shaking
which indicated the soldiers were scared and stress to kill people. Lastly, Hes
all right, this quote referred to the superintendent meaning that he is the one
who suffering now because the criminal was already dead he didnt have feeling
anymore.

In conclusion, George Orwell leads the story by using literary devices

which are foreshadow, symbolism, oxymoron, irony and simile to create deep
connection between readers and characters along the story until the end. English
literary devices play an essential role in making A Hanging more complicated
to analyze as most of the meanings are implied and us as the reader has to figure
out what George Orwell is trying to communicate with us through his piece of
work.