An Analysis of the Poems
(Three messages from “Shooting an Elephant”, and “No Witchcraft for Sale”)
People do not always make the choices that they should have. Often times, people like to choose the path that is not laid out in front of them, but the one that is further than where they are going. George Orwell and Doris Lessing really put an emphasis on this topic. In George Orwell’s story, “Shooting an Elephant”, he talks mainly about the British people of the time that he was an officer. His type of person (Burmese), was not very highly liked by the British (the rulers at the time). In “No Witchcraft for Sale”, it is a story that is told about a boy and how he is saved by his colored cook. In both of the stories, bravery is displayed, only in different forms. There are three messages that are shared between the two stories: imperialism, peer pressure, and fear.
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The definition of imperialism is when a strong country takes over a weaker country and runs it over them. This is what the British did to the Burmese people, and what the white people did to the colored people. In “Elephant”, there is a constant struggle for power with the Burmese, because they were being ruled by the British. In “Sale”, the different kind of struggle comes from the black trying to be equal with the white people. The white scientist tries to get the black cook to tell him the secret plant that he used to cure Teddy’s eyes. Although he does not want to tell him because he is colored, and the white man is not. In “Elephant” on page 1322, Orwell says, “They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching.” This is a good example of power, because he did not want to make the more powerful mad by not shooting the