Posted by PJ on March 05, 2003 at 15:56:24:
In Reply to: Re: A Hanging posted by latoya green on June 29, 2001 at 12:11:30:
I agree, and would expand on that point to say that Orwell uses the narration of a prison guard to show how execution is dealt with by those who must carry it out. He finds ways to show the reader how the characters do their jobs and the thought processes that go along with their obligations.The story ends with the warders laughing over a drink of whiskey, "The dead man was a hundred yards away." (Orwell 482) Out of sight, out of mind, the Hindu man turned from a conscious man into a past job that could be laughed about and justified as obligation.