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”.
Orwell had to deal with an escaped elephant that caused some damage to the town and went on to track it down with no intention of hurting it. He ended up killing the animal due to his fear of being ridiculed by the natives. Orwell was going through a rough time in this point of his life, and when presented the problem, an innocent creature had to parish for his pride.
He was able to do this through plot, characters, and diction; the way the characters interacted showed the reader that something was not right in this society. Many people have written articles about George Orwell and his reasons for writing what he wrote, and some have even written articles about why George Orwell was wrong and why his books shouldn’t be read. First I am going to talk about the people who think why Orwell should be read and also why he was one of the greatest writers. The first article is “Homage to George Orwell” by Peter Firchow. According to Firchow Orwell was not a simple man, he was a “complex, difficult personality disguising himself as an unremarkable, ordinary, and even very amiable fellow” (Firchow).
But as he walked to find the elephant he was debating the whole time. Till he was 25 yards from the elephant Orwell then started to try and convince himself that he had to kill the elephant and show his authority. Orwell was afraid to even get close to the animal and only brought the gun to protect
In Animal Farm, George Orwell warns how power will often lead to corruption. Napoleon was placed in a position of power after Major died, and he slowly starts to lavish in his power and become addicted to the lush life of a dictator. When Napoleon first becomes a leader, he expresses how everyone will work equally, but as his reign goes on, he shortens the work hours. At the very end of the novel, the observing animals even start to see that pig and man had become the same. The irony present in the above example, illuminates how regardless of how much a ruler promises to maintain equality and fairness, the position of power that they hold, will corrupt them.
Due to Orwell’s military station he is automatically hated by the people of the Burma. The Burmese people show great hatred and disgust towards Orwell by tormenting him at every chance they get. This causes a huge problem for orwell because he begins to realize that the British empire systematically oppress the Burmese people and due to his military role he feels somewhat responsible and he begins to develop a growing hatred toward the British empire. One day an incident takes place. An elephant escapes from its chains and is threatening the villagers of burma.
When he comes across the animal, he has no intention of killing it, but he realizes that there is a massive group of people watching behind him. In this moment, he has to decide wether or not to kill the animal. Orwell realizes that if he doesn’t he will be
Orwell says, “But that moment I glanced round at the crowd that had followed me”. From that moment, the officer started thinking about what the Burman expected from him, and what effect it would have on him if he did not shoot the elephant. The officer also began to think about what the Burmans thought of him; how he went from being a nobody to
Orwell is a disconsolate young police officer stationed in Burma who faces isolation every day. He detests the British oppressors, the oppressed Burmese, and his job. He feels alone because
One feeling Orwell felt was pressure. Two thousand people followed him with the expectation of the elephant being shot. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it, Orwell says. While the thought lingered in his mind to not shoot the elephant, but he also did not want to be laughed at.
Toward the ending Orwell says “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that i had done it solely to avoid looking a fool”(6). But in the end he killed the elephant so he can gain respect otherwise.
In the end Orwell admits to feeling like “an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind.” (Orwell, 2014, p. 234). Orwell, as the British police officer, no longer acts according to his own inclinations. Through the ordeal involving the elephant Orwell comes to the realization of his lost liberty yet the reader observes that he lost it when he first began his job as a British imperial officer. The British Empire dictates most every action done by Orwell; he has become numb to it and replaced his initial resistance with a hate for all that surrounds him.
In “Shooting An Elephant”, Orwell shows us his time in Burma as a sub divisional police officer of the town. It quickly becomes apparent that Orwell is the oppressor who struggles with his feeling to win the sympathy from the Burman people: his portrayal of losing his ability to act morally shows us that while he was in Burma, he was an obvious target and all this to him was “perplexing and upsetting.” As he was going on with his day, he heard that there was an elephant ravaging the bazaar. He did not want to kill the elephant but knew for a certain that the actions for misbehaving were just a warning. Therefore, he knew he had the power over the local people and had to make himself look like the “hero” of this town.
Although Orwell felt as if his job stood for everything he stood against he still felt obligation to do his job while in uniform. While on duty Orwell receives
(pg.326) which he didn’t, but he assassinated the elephant due to the force of the coolie. Guilt is shown when Orwell says “In the end I couldn’t stand it any longer and went away.” (pg. 330) He didn’t want to watch the suffering of the elephant. Orwell’s use of the yellow faces symbolizes the pressure forced by the coolie, the anger they led on, and the cold-heartedness of the crowd.
