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Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

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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 …show more content…

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

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Pg 269 The feeling i get from George Orwell’s shooting an elephant is that when he started out working as a civil servant for the British Raj that he didn't hate the Burmese. It feels like when he first started out, he got into it with good intentions and that this job wore him down. He has very strong thoughts on the empire and his distaste for it but then he turns around and has an uncontrollable rage for the Burmese.

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Hannah Edmiston Boudreau AP Language Friday 25 September, 2015 Shooting an Elephant Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell in 1936, describes his experience working as a British officer located in Moulmein, Burma. He writes his essay to reveal the cruelty and disastrous outcome of imperialism he witnesses. Orwell uses strong resource of language such as symbolism, metaphors and imagery to express his disdain for British imperialism. Orwell uses symbolism to connect the character of the elephant to the effects of imperialism.

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George Orwell appeals to pathos and uses imagery to give a satirical presentation of imperialism, showing it’s negative impact on both those governed and those who govern. Throughout the entire essay, the narrator expresses various feelings of hatred, fear, anxiety, and doubt. He resents the fact that hs is in a position of authority, yet mocked. He resents that he is forced to continue his career despite the fact that he detests British imperialism.

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The British had been an imperial empire at the time, and had ruled Burma. The Burmese people were very Anti-European and because of this they had been oppressive towards those who had been a part of the British Empire. Europeans were not widely liked throughout Burma because they treated the Burmese poorly. Burmese had been pretty harsh towards European’s because of this, laughing at and mocking them. Orwell

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Well known author and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experiences as a Policeman in Moulmein, Burma during European Imperialism. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the ideal that what is right and what is accepted don’t always align. He adopts a remorseful tone in order to convey to the reader the weight of his actions. By looking at George Orwell’s use of imagery and figurative language, one can see his strongly conflicting opinions on Imperialism. Orwell begins his essay, Shooting an Elephant, by explaining the actions of the Burmese people and by expressing his contempt for imperialism.

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The short memoir of “Shooting the Elephant” tells the story of George Orwell’s experience as a british policeman in imperialized Burma. His experience is made up of anger, hate and resentment of conditions he feels is out of his control. Orwell makes many revelations in this story, one of them being, “when the white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.” Orwell also claims, “He wears a mask; and his face grows to fit it.” These statements possess much validity and can be supported in multiple ways.

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In George Orwell 's short story titled “Shooting an Elephant” presented an event that changed a countries civilization. George’s life in Burma, and the prejudice placed by the people he oppressed inspired his writing through the uses of setting, style, and theme. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell no specific event influenced this piece rather it was an accumulation of many small events of prejudice and hate by an opposing group of

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Orwell conveniences the reader that imperialism has not only a negative impact on those run by imperialist, but also degrades those holding the power of an imperialist. Like other works Orwell has written they too have expressed his opinion on social and political aspects. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers can recognize his opinions on imperialism through the narrator’s display of pathos. Orwell over and over expresses his hatred, fear, doubt, and distress for authority of imperialist. The narrator states “As for the job [he] was doing, [he] hated it more bitterly than [he] perhaps make clear.”

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This use of imagery paints a picture in the reader's head about how evil and brutal the elephant is. The last use of imagery Orwell embeds in his essay when he says, “The evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.” This imagery is used to show the retaliation of the Burmese people to the British. The amount of hostility the Burmese has against not just the British soldiers but anyone associated with the

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In his essay, “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell describes his experience of killing an elephants when he was an officer in Burma. He explains how the local Burmese hated him and saw him as the authority of the repressive white British. He mentions that he also had the same feeling about the local Burmese. Even though he hated the Thyestean imperialism but he also hated what he called the yellow-faced and evil-spirted Burmese people. One day, he was told that an elephant was destroying the bazaar and killing people.

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This narrative piece is an effective expository technique that describes the narrator’s thoughts and tone. Orwell uses oxymoron such as “grinning corpse” and paradox phrases such as “the story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes”. Another paradox statement is shown in “I perceived this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. Orwell’s decisions were briskly altered as he was deciding on whether to kill the elephant or not. His mind altered from “I ought not to shoot him” to “I had got to do it” and also to “But I did not want to shoot the elephant”.

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Throughout “Shooting An Elephant” , Orwell’s narrative style brings out internal and external conflicts that are relatable in society today. The narrator faces multiple internal and external conflicts. One external conflict being the Burmese and how they mock him because he is a representative of the British Empire, but he will do what it takes to show them he is not a fool. "I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.

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(Orwell, 1319). When viewing the situation objectively, it is understandable that the locals would have resentment towards Englishmen. They felt vulnerable and saw them as a threat. Orwell still empathized with the locals, understanding the hatred they felt. And yet, as a human being with feelings, it proved hard to deal with such hatred and remain empathetic and compassionate at all times.

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In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, he encounters the pressure influenced by the Burmese and the way it affected his decision. Orwell uses symbols such as the police officer, the yellow faces, and the elephant to represent the evil of English imperialism. The Police officer symbolizes his weakness of authority, the executioner of the elephant, and guilt. Orwell explains “I was hated by large numbers of people.”

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The Burmans slight acts of rebellion by spitting and laughing at the British is represented by the elephant going “must”. Orwell 's self-imposed task of upholding the British Empire’s mask of control can be related to the Empire’s goal of controlling or “taming” Burmese society. Orwell is aware that his reputation reflects that of all the other Europeans. This awareness plays a role in his deciding to shoot the elephant because if he didn’t, the Burman’s would question British authority and think of them as weak (Orwell).

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