In George Orwell’s, A Hanging, he describes his experience of the execution of a Hindu man in Burma, while serving as an Imperial police officer. While he describes the scene and prisoner’s execution, he describes the execution as inhumane and brutal, yet it seemed normal to the surrounding people. However, in some present society’s, executions are still publicly displayed and brutal as well as very costly; however, in some cultures, it is thought as normal.
To begin with, the first documented use of hanging in this country was in the 17th century. Hanging has been used to punish criminals who committed crimes such as: treason, marrying Jewish people and lying about a crime (Death Penalty Information Center, 2018). Even though death is normally…show more content… Death by hanging has been in America since the 17th century, a Spanish spy to be the first dropped from the gallows. Since there are multiple types of hanging used for executions, which are determined by your size and body figure, death by hanging can be a slow and painful death. As seen from videos from executions in Iran, it appears that the condemned are still alive for 10 seconds after they are dropped to their death, however, their body still twitches and yanks back and forth for up to three to six minutes afterwards. In Orwell’s A Hanging, he describes how the inmate’s cells look like, “a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like animal cages.” They treated the men as if they were unhuman, as if they were animals being sent to the slaughter…show more content… Benjamin Rush, believed the death penalty wasn’t a “deterrent” and that it caused a “brutalization effect.” This is the corresponding cause and effect relationship with criminal offenses and executions. People such as Gary W. Potter, states that, “executions also have an imitation effect, where people actually follow the example set by the state, after all, people feel if the government can kill its enemies, so can they” (Potter, 2000). Northeastern University’s William Bowers, also believes that the death penalty doesn’t deter crime but actually has the opposite effect, encouraging more crime. Just as a young teenager rebels when told not to do so, criminals follow the example set by them, eventually desensitizing