The thesis of Donne's' "Meditation 17" and Orwell's "A Hanging" have both similarities and differences. Though both theses suggest the idea of mankind as a whole, and the fact that we are forced to examine our life when we witness one's death, there are still difference found between the two. Throughout the two narrative essays, different forms of literary techniques are used to emphasize the theses, while on the other hand, are also used to capture the readers' attention. The following compares and contrasts between the two essays mentioned above.
             The idea of mankind as a whole instead of individuals being independent is introduced in Donne's essay Meditation 17, and stated in his thesis, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main". That is, the continent represents individuals being a part of mankind, symbolized by "the main". This thesis also suggests that it is a waste of life if we don't make good use of it. "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee". Despite the suggestion of mankind as a whole, this expands the idea that death occurs to all people. In which when we face or see death, we are force to examine our own life, making us to consider life and death, and realize the need to cherish life; his/her death will be of good use to the witnesses.
             Instead of comparing individuals geographically to the world, Orwell brought up the idea of wholeness of mankind by a simple comparison with one individual in his thesis, "He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone – one mind less, one world less". It implicated the fact that the man who was ready to b...