Sam's thoughts on The Hangman by Maurice Ogden

This is one of the strongest poems I have read this year. The first thing that came to my mind after reading The Hangman was World War Two. Hitler started with the Jews, and people around the Jews didn’t say stop. They didn’t care because they weren’t being harmed. Then Hitler ordered more and more people to be killed and no one said anything, just like in the poem. A very powerful line in the poem is when the hangman says, “First the alien, then the Jew…I did no more than you let me do.” This poem teaches you that you can’t sit quietly and ignore problems because they don’t directly affect you. For example, right now there are children starving and being used as slaves in other parts of the world. We have to help even though the problem doesn’t effect us.

The poem’s cadence and rhymes make it sound lovely and gentle. I wonder if Maurice Ogden chose that format to show you that you have to go a little deeper and think about what’s going on and not just be happy if nothing is bothering you. For example, should I be happy if my life is lovely and gentle, but other kids are suffering?

-Sam