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George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

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The Elephant “In a job like that you see the dirty work of the empire in close quarters”. Imagine being in a predicament that you go into blindlessly thinking that everything is first rate and second to none, but then you come to the realization that everything you thought you knew was corrupt and a lie. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” he explains how he comes to despise the British empire. Orwell begins to see the many different strategies used to oppress the Burmese people by the British empire first hand and this ultimately causes him to develop a hatred for the British empire. In this essay Orwell is trying to show that in life people pressure other people to do things that they don’t want to do, which can lead to very …show more content…

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. The only one capable of containing this animal and saving the Burmese people is George Orwell because the villagers didn’t have any weapons. Orwell knows that he may have to kill the animal because it is what is expected of him due to his station, this causes conflict because Orwell does not want to kill the creature but he also does not want to seem weak in front of the taunting Burmese people. Orwell is faced with this huge dilemma and choses to kill the elephant to prevent being humiliated by the people of …show more content…

He uses imagery depict the various things the burmese people did that lead him to kill the elephant. Orwell uses imagery to show the taunting of the Burmese people when he states “When a nimble Burman tripped me upon the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter”(II.7-9). And “In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves”(II.9-11). The imagery in this essay is to mainy show how the Burmese people treated Orwell and how their taunting towards him made him think that he had to kill the elephant to avoid great

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In the beginning of the essay, the elephant manifests an unbending tantrum. The rampage kills a local man and destroys much of the village. Orwell, by using a tumultuous elephant destroying the village, is a reference to imperialism and its disastrous effects. Orwell writes, “He was lying on his belly with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to one side… (Most of the corpses I have seen looked devilish.)” to show how imperialism’s devastation was the opposite of the initial extension of Britain 's influence through colonization. You can see in Orwell 's writing the diction he uses such as “crucified” and “devilish” in the essay show that the religious influence of imperialism takes a large toll on the culture of the Burmese people and British officers there.

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In the beginning of, “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell establishes that the separation of power in colonial Burma resides more than just black-and-white. While it seems he holds symbolic authority and military supremacy as a British police officer, Orwell is still powerless to stop the hatred and abuse he receives from the oppressed Burmese. This hatred, that may be perceived, will become an influential reason as to why he would feel guilty regardless if he would have have or haven’t taken responsibility for his actions. Orwell, in the beginning, views the elephant as,”... not a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’”, but he later realizes, that the elephant itself, represents more than just an animal. Orwell is able to better comprehend

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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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There are numerous themes in this short story such as British imperialism and colonial resentment however the most prominent theme in this story is fear of humiliation and the effect peer- pressure has on an individual. The setting of Burma helps work with this theme as it provides an area for the plot to take place and develop. After marching miles to the destination of the elephant, a crowd had surrounded George Orwell and encourages Orwell to kill the elephant. George Orwell is compelled to kill the once ravaging elephant due to the fact that Orwell wants to avoid looking like a fool. George Orwell is willing to sacrifice his role of doing the right thing and fulfilling the Burmese wishes in order to save himself from

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Dying for Dignity George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is wholly admirable as it exemplifies what depths man will go through to preserve their dignity. The main idea is centered on the emotional conflict that the author experienced when shooting the elephant. Orwell was torn between the pressure exerted by the natives, the Burmese, and his human morale that this elephant was a harmless creature who should not be shot. Therefore, the killing of the elephant is a metaphor of the effects of imperialism, not only on the oppressed but on the oppressors as well.

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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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Orwell, unable to further stand in the presence of the suffering elephant and unable to watch and listen to it, goes away. The elephant, like the Burmese people, had become the victim of the British imperialist’s need to preserve his

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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.

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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’s story is about a police officer in Burma (George Orwell himself) who is faced with having to do something he does not want to do. Burma is a location in which majority of the people are poor and unlike most farmers, used elephants as manual labor. A control elephant is reported lost at the bazaar, Orwell is then called in to shoot the innocent and powerful animal. George originally does not want to kill the elephant, but goes against his own will and kills the elephant.

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George Orwell held a unique perspective on Britain’s involvement in Burma. Through his own experiences in Burma, he developed an inner struggle between following orders and opposing imperialism, that he expressed in the story Shooting an Elephant. Orwell was born under the name Eric Blair in colonial India. As an adult, he joined the Imperial Police stationed in Burma, where he soon discovered a conflict brewing within himself. He was naturally a reflective person, analyzing what he saw to be obvious disparities in the two sides of an Imperialistic relationship.

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In response to this impactful experience, Orwell composes the essay “Shooting an Elephant”. Claiming that both the oppressor and the oppressed is impaired by imperialism, Orwell supports his statement through displaying the irony in his relationship with the natives, adding edges of displeasure and sarcasm in his voice, and vivid imageries of unpleasant situations in order to demonstrate his mixed feelings of frustration and guilt towards the empire’s doings. Due to the fact that British imperialism has established prejudice among locals and Europeans, Orwell’s relationship with the Burmese as a white policeman

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(pg. 322) and “As a police officer, I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.” (pg. 322) The Burmese showed him no respect, but it wasn’t to a point where crime was common. Even though Orwell was the ring leader of the Burmese crowd, he didn’t call the shots. Orwell says he “had no intention of shooting the elephant.”

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The two dominant characters, the executioner and the elephant, is used to build an argument on the position of an officer under the British imperialism in Burma. The essay itself follows a simple style making it easy to follow along, but still obtains the strong interpretations the author is trying to get across. Orwell uses his experience on shooting an elephant as a way to express his

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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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