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Characteristics for A Hanging by George Orwell
Capital punishment essay introduction
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George Orwell uses his narrative, A Hanging, to argue the wrongfulness of Capital punishment by wording this piece in a way that makes the audience feel and experience what Orwell was experiencing using his first hand account. Orwell has a small amount of details being aimed towards exposing the cruelty of capital punishment. By Orwell only focusing on the negative, it creates a very depressing and sad mood that makes the characters seem either really bad, heartless, or innocent. Orwell’s lack of detail of the situation but descriptive words lets the readers think about the situation in a way that does not attack directly at anything. In paragraph eight Orwell says “ I saw…. The unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short.” This first hand
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS Introduction: Throughout this discussion, I will debate and analyse the ideas I have collected from my research. My discussion is separated under sub headings which will allow me to form a better understanding of how capital punishment is viewed, which will help me in reaching a possible answer to my question. Firstly, I am going to be discussing two very well known case studies. Case studies: The two case studies I have picked to focus my research on are: Derek Bentley who was the last man executed in Britain along with Ruth Ellis who was the last woman executed in Britain.
In George Orwell’s essay, “A Hanging,” and Michael Lake’s article, “Michael Lake Describes What The Executioner Actually Faces,” a hardened truth about capital punishment is exposed through influence drawn from both authors’ firsthand encounters with government- supported execution. After witnessing the execution of Walter James Bolton, Lake describes leaving with a lingering, “sense of loss and corruption that [he has] never quite shed” (Lake. Paragraph 16). Lake’s use of this line as a conclusion to his article solidifies the article’s tone regarding the mental turmoil that capital execution can have on those involved. Likewise, Orwell describes a disturbed state of mind present even in the moments leading up to the execution, where the thought, “oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable noise!” crossed his mind (Orwell.
Capital punishment is most commonly known as the death penalty or punishment by death for a crime. It is a highly controversial topic and many people and great thinkers alike have debated about it. Two well-known figures are Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. Although both stand in favor of capital punishment, their reasons for coming to this conclusion are completely different. I personally stand against capital punishment, but my own personal view on it incorporates a few mixed elements from both individuals as well as my own personal insight. Firstly, in order to understand why Kant and Mill support capital punishment, we must first understand their views on punishment in general.
In “The Death Penalty” (1985), David Bruck argues that the death penalty is injustice and that it is fury rather than justice that compels others to “demand that murderers be punished” by death. Bruck relies on varies cases of death row inmates to persuade the readers against capital punishment. His purpose is to persuade readers against the death penalty in order for them to realize that it is inhuman, irrational, and that “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men whom we have already imprisoned.” Bruck does not employ an array of devices but he does employ some such as juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and appeals to strengthen his argument. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of supporters of capital punishment such as Mayor Koch.
...eed,’ and while most of his subjects said gosh or gee whiz, one student replied, ‘I think they ought to be locked in the same cell for the rest of their lives. Never allowed any visitors. Just sit there staring at each other till the day they die.’ And a tough, strutty little man said, ‘I believe in capital punishment. It's like the Bible says - an eye for an eye. And even so we're two pair short!’" (Capote 159). Throughout Capote’s writing, he emphasizes the flaws in society’s thought process of execution. Society uses capital punishment as an elaborate ruse to justify revenge and gain that revenge by murdering, as well. Capital punishment is the most irreparable crime governments commit without consequence. “The death penalty is not an act of self-defense against an immediate threat to life. It is the premeditated killing of a prisoner” (Amnesty International).
1. Orwell’s thesis is that cause and effect are closely related, which is implied and stated.
In the article “The Penalty of Death”, written by H. L. Mencken, utilitarian principles are used to cover up for a system that wants results. All of the reasons that Mencken gives as justifications do not give concrete evidence of why the death penalty should continue as a means of punishment. The article states, “Any lesser penalty leaves them feeling that the criminal has got the better of society...” This statement alone demonstrates how he believes the death penalty brings justice and satisfaction to the people. Mencken creates the points he makes in his article in order to give society a way to make the death penalty seem less intrusive on moral principles and more of a necessary act.
Throughout the ages, death penalty has always been a controversial topic and triggered numerous insightful discussion. In Kroll’s Unquiet Death of Robert Harris, the writer employs pathos as an appeal throughout the whole article in order to convince the audiences that death penalty is “something indescribably ugly” and “nakedly barbaric”. While Mencken makes use of ethos and logos and builds his arguments in a more constructive and effective way to prove that death penalty is necessary and should exist in the social system.
“I had never realised what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man.” After reading and understanding George Orwell’s feelings through his experiences in his essay “A Hanging.” We come to realize that George Orwell, a visitor from the European establishment, gets the opportunity to participate in the execution of a Hindu man. The author is degraded by what he has witnessed and experienced, and decides to share his feelings with the rest of the establishment through his writings.
“How the Death Penalty Saves Lives” According to DPIC (Death penalty information center), there are one thousand –four hundred thirty- eight executions in the United States since 1976. Currently, there are Two thousand –nine hundred –five inmates on death row, and the average length of time on death row is about fifteen years in the United States. The Capital punishment, which appears on the surface to the fitting conclusion to the life of a murder, in fact, a complicated issue that produces no clear resolution.; However, the article states it’s justice. In the article “How the Death Penalty Saves Lives” an author David B. Muhlhausen illustrates a story of Earl Ringo , Jr, brutal murder’s execution on September ,10,
Days without food, nights without shelter and clothes without buttons are reality for homeless people around the world. Many are incapable of escaping their poverty and can not seem to find a way out of their bleak oppression. The few that do escape often help each other find a way to make their lives better and do not forget how to maintain friendships. George Orwell’s novel, Down and Out in Paris and London, displays the ability of those in poverty to escape their horrific lot in life through friendships and connections. The common goal of shelter and freedom from oppression bonds many of the lower class. Many in poverty work together to find the best means to achieve their common goal through locating employment and safe places to sleep. Orwell tries to display the lower classes sense of friendship and commitment though his interactions with the people he meets while in poverty. The individuals he describes have the same dismal prospects and must try to find a way to overcome poverty. It is the common goal of freedom from oppression that bonds many of the lower class to work together to break free. Orwell’s experience in poverty helps him gain a strong understanding of class structure and the separation of the classes. The realization that many in poverty do not deserve to be oppressed causes Orwell to take political action and to search for a way to help those in oppression. With Orwell’s strong examples of the lower class working together, he tries to display his belief that a socialistic society can solve the separation of classes.
George Orwell’s “A Hanging”, set in Burma in the late 1920’s, tells his experience as a police officer witnessing a specific execution. Throughout his career on the police force, Orwell was an ardent retentionist, someone who supports capital punishment for certain crimes. However, this execution revealed to him the brutality of capital punishment, causing him to shift to abolitionism, the thought that capital punishment should be abolished. After quitting his job as a police officer, he wrote this story to show the heinous reality of capital punishment. Using the dialogue and mannerisms of the characters in this story, Orwell conveys his abolitionist message through the prisoner, the superintendent, the guards, and the dog.
Every writer has that one special quirk that keeps readers coming back for more. Whether it is the humor or the characters, most authors carry their quirks from story to story. In “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell describes his experience of shooting an elephant. In “A Hanging,” he describes the emotions that run through him as he watches the hanging of a prisoner. Both essays have similar key ideas that identify Orwell as a writer. The results of pride and power contribute to the themes that connect his essays and identify Orwell as a descriptive writer.
I will accomplish this by first providing you with a brief history of the death penalty, then I will discuss grounds for justifying the death penalty, and finally I will dispute some of the popular arguments against the death penalty. To start off, I will discuss the history of the death penalty. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, boiling, beheading, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. In the Tenth Century A.D., hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain.
Orwell uses numerous descriptions to describe the prisoner and the hanging. When describing the prison guards, few details are given showing how they have become numbed to what is going on. The guards fail to see effects of ending a person’s life. The speaker gives a different view of the hanging. He notices how he has become numb to the fact by realizing that this is a real man who is still thinking and processing is about to be killed. These two different responses to the hanging along with the vivid, blunt descriptions messes with the readers emotions and begs for them to answer tough questions. The reader must take a side in the case of the rightness of the death penalty. The reader is provided with limited information about the case in the story, but through the plethora of descriptions the reader is able to make a