what is the first stage of cruelty?
He is shown being assisted by other boys to insert an arrow into a dog's rectum
The Four Stages of Cruelty
 Conspicuous in the centre of the plate, he is shown being assisted by other boys to insert an arrow into a dog's rectum, a torture apparently inspired by a devil punishing a sinner in Jacques Callot's "Temptation of St. Anthony".
what is ''the four stages of cruelty''? is a series of four printed engravings that depicts a different stage in the life of the fictional Tom Nero. whose work is it? English artist William Hogarth
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The Four Stages of Cruelty [SEP] "First stage of cruelty"
In the first print Hogarth introduces Tom Nero, whose surname may have been inspired by the Roman Emperor of the same name or a contraction of "No hero". Conspicuous in the centre of the plate, he is shown being assisted by other boys to insert an arrow into a dog's rectum, a torture apparently inspired by a devil punishing a sinner in Jacques Callot's "Temptation of St. Anthony". An initialled badge on the shoulder of his light-hued and ragged coat shows him to be a pupil of the charity school of the parish of St Giles. Hogarth used this notorious slum area as the background for many of his works including "Gin Lane" and "Noon", part of the "Four Times of the Day" series.