While at times the justification for capital punishment is argued in terms …show more content…
In this essay, Orwell writes about hanging the hanging of a condemned criminal in Burma. As they were leading the prisoner to the gallows, a wild dog runs towards the group, jumps on the prisoner and licks his face, excited to interact with a human. The men who were set to execute the hanging were taken aback and looked on in shock, almost as if the dog should be able to realize that the man who’s face he just licked was a convicted criminal set to be put to death in a few moments. The dog was unaware of such circumstances, but recognized the prisoner’s humanity and sought interaction with him. Even if the man had committed a crime, he still possessed humanity and dignity that the dog respected far more than the humans in the essay ever