As an opponent of political and social injustice, author George Orwell shows his disapproval for political corruption and political injustice through the display of pathos. Likewise, in “Shooting an Elephant,” readers detect George Orwell’s subjective opinions on imperialism through persuasion using pathos. Throughout the essay, the narrator uses expressions and feelings of fear, hatred, anxiety, doubt, and distress at the fact that he is in a position of no authority to inform the audience of his disapproval.
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.
Shooting an Elephant Analysis Orwell mentions in the beginning of his essay that he was hated by the Burmans because he worked as a police officer under the British Empire. He was made a joke of in front of the town. When the incident with the elephant came, it gave him a chance to show his strong character to the natives by solving the problem. Orwell wrote Shooting an Elephant to inform his readers.
In Orwell’s essay, he chooses to “wear a mask that is fit to his face” and be something he was not. Orwell decided to give in to the Burmans by shooting the elephant, is what they wanted. He said when the owner came back he was angry about it. I think that he should have stuck to his instinct by not shooting the elephant. He just wanted to prove himself to the people of Burma although he had nothing to prove to these people.
In George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” Tony Early’s idea of the “thing and the other thing” manifest themselves in Orwell’s need to seem sensible and his idea of what makes him look foolish. These are both affected by the culture that Orwell was raised in and the culture he was living in at the time. Though this essay starts out talking about his situation in life and his hatred of imperialism it quickly becomes clear that the main focus is on his story about shooting an elephant and his reasons for doing so.
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
3) Orwell initially hesitates to kill the elephant because the elephant was not hurting anyone. In fact, the elephant was calmly eating food, while ignoring the crowd of people. Also, Orwell knew the elephant’s owner would be angry if his or her elephant got shot and died. The reason being, the elephant is worth much more alive than dead. However, Orwell decides to kill the elephant because the crowd of people were anticipating on him to shoot the elephant.
George Orwell’s experience described in his essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, taught him that after you begin to imperialize, you are sometimes forced to do things against your will to earn humanity. He knew he had no intention to kill the elephant out of cold blood, for the thought of how the elephant’s mahout would feel when he returned from his journey only to find his animal dead. However, the elephant was wild during his must period and was doing outrageous things that was harming the people and the environment of Lower Burma. Orwell knew that he was not well-liked by his fellow Burmans and, therefore could not bear to fail with the face of the crowd glaring at him. The elephant in the story is not only seen as an animal that would be seen
This results in a sort of peer pressure for that of the white man. You can see that the reader is presented with a very complex text that only a close reader could understand. So understanding these three points may help the reader further understand the short essay. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” there three points, pear pressure and its effects in this story, racism and prejudice, and authority and imperialistic authority.
Shooting an Elephant Unexpected decisions that one is pushed to make can suffer make one. In George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant” his decision to shoot on elephant is a more dilemma. Every individual must make troublesome judgments over the span of regular day to day existence. Choices that appear to be minor at the time may influence one's life for quite a long time. Some of the time the decision is whether to meet the desires of others or to meet the desires of the soul.
George Orwell Shooting an Elephant Analysis “And then down he came, his belly towards me, with a crash that seemed to shake the ground even where I lay” (Orwell 788). In George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant, he describes his strife as a British Indian Imperial Police officer In Lower Burma. Nevertheless, throughout the essay Orwell construes his internal clash of hating Imperialism while also being loathed by the Burmans. Furthermore, Orwell is presented with the task of taking care of a big quandary.
Shooting An Elephant The story “ Shooting An Elephant” by George Orwell is about a man who lives in Bruma as a police officer. Bruma is under British control and they are not aloud to own guns. Being a British officer, the narrator was aloud to own one at the time. The story is told in first person, as readers learn about a traumatizing experience the narrator had in his past.
In early 1900’s American industrialism was at its peak. Big factories and corporations ruled the population, controlling jobs, salary, and the everyday livelihood of the working class. It wasn't until 1929 when the stock market crashed, that these large industries began to take advantage of the poor, and exploit workers for their own gain. Turning a blind eye to the danger and risks their workers took daily just to keep their meager jobs, and their families fed. This was also done by first world governments as well, as they would invade foreign lands and abuse the natives to reap the profits for their own gain.
George Orwell born in 1903 became known for his anti- totalitarian novels such as Animal Farm, Burmese Days and his essay Shooting an Elephant. In his essay shooting an elephant, Orwell writes about an event the opened his eye to the dangers of imperialism and social injustice. He begins by explaining his position as a police officer in Burma. He goes on to explain the disposition of the village natives against the British as well as commonalty of the, mistreating them. Orwell then being to express that recognizes the evil of imperialism and did not believe in the oppression of the brumes.
Orwell wants to convey the message by explaining that imperialism is evil. It shames people, reducing them to the low status in their own country. Also, it pushes people into making immoral or unethical decisions to maintain their superiority. In “Shooting an Elephant," the narrator acts against his conscience to save face for himself and his fellow imperialists. He was a European policeman in Burma, and the Burmese feeling toward all Europeans was extraordinarily negative, and he knew that the Burmese people disliked him.
