Message of "A Hanging" by George Orwell

“A Hanging” was inspired by Orwell’s experiences in Burma, a part of the British Empire in Asia. The story is about one Hindu prisoner who was condemned to be hanging. The history is ironic because we can see how common it became for people to kill others under determined situations. I freak out reading how tranquil the superintendent says to Francis “The man ought to have been dead by this time”. Aren’t you ready yet?” as if the man were an animal. The author describes how naturally the warders lead the prisoners to the gallows without resentment. Also, once the prisoner was executed, they laughed about him, drank together and put him a hundred years away. The epiphany occurs when the author realizes that the man about to die avoided his destination aside to the puddle, was as healthy and conscious as he was. In addition, we can feel it as a reader when the dog ran towards the prisoner expecting that something wrong was about to happen. In conclusion, as human beings we take irrevocable decisions that put us below animal levels, and ironically, although we realize that we are committing a mistake, we cannot do anything about this decision.