Rather than showing any kind of compassion, the narrator and others laugh at this story. For example, near the end an assistant tells the story of how the condemned man fought long and hard to keep from being taken to the gallows.

The narrator seems cool and emotionally distant, as do the other prison workers. When the action that takes place inside his head is removed, the story takes on a totally different tone. However, the narrator seems to believe that there is nothing to be said or done to change this. Orwell obviously feels this way, as this is a main theme in the work. Often people de-humanize inmates and others doomed for execution in order to justify the killing to themselves, but if anything is to be learned from вЂњA Hanging,вЂќ it is that this de-humanization is entirely fictitious, and has nothing to do with real life. That is, he realizes that all men are equally alive, and killing a criminal is only different than killing an innocent person because of motive. In вЂњA Hanging,вЂќ the main character, supposedly Orwell, has an epiphany. Orwell is very honest about human behavior, and sometimes it almost gets depressing. He actually wrote many essays about his time in Burma, as well as a novel. The story takes place in Burma, due to the fact that Orwell spent much time in the region during his life. The essay details, as the title suggests, the hanging of a prisoner, as well as the time shortly before and after. вЂњA Hanging,вЂќ by George Orwell, is a very emotion-evoking piece of rhetoric.

The hanging george orwell breakdown