Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

The essay “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell follows a young man who works as a police officer in Moulmein in Lower Burma. At this time, the British had taken control of Burma and the people of the country were very harsh toward any European. George Orwell uses diction to explain his thoughts about the natives through the tone in this essay. Orwell’s tone is resentment toward the natives, which is conveyed by the narrator’s bitterness toward his job, his dislike for the people’s attitudes, and the fact that he shot the elephant to avoid ruining his reputation. The bitterness toward his job represents the tone of resentment in the essay. Orwell was forced to serve as a police officer in Burma and did not enjoy his position. He expresses his situation with words such as “unbreakable tyranny” (1), “evil-spirited” (1), and “beasts” (1). The words “unbreakable tyranny” (1) explain the exact political situation the country of Burma is in. Despite that situation, Orwell was in fear of their judgement and was having difficulty making his own decisions. A resentful tone is shown because he had become obsessed with the natives’ view of him and continued to do his job because of this. “[E]vil-spirited” (1) as well as “beasts” (1) are utilized to show how Orwell perceives the natives’ manner toward him. Orwell angrily mentions that

The utilization of meaningful words represents the overarching tone of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” and is built upon with these words throughout the essay. The reader’s interpretation of the text is based around the use of connotative diction and would be lost without it. A deeper understanding for the author’s attitude toward the subject allows the reader to have more awareness for a