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George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

1385 Words6 Pages

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. However, the assignment will lead Orwell to realize a reality, “It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had before of the real nature of Imperialism”(Orwell 785). Moreover, the author challenges the reader to see past what objectively happens in the incoming events. The incident is insignificant in retrospect yet it exposes the evils of …show more content…

Orwell was ill educated and young as a consequence he was stuck in limbo. Orwell remarks,” All I know was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against evil spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible” (784). Even though Orwell had much animosity towards the burmese people, he himself agreed with their hatred of British colonial tyranny as clearly stated,”I was all for the burmeses and all against their oppressors”(784). The author is trying to caution British People to not systematically permit what their government is carrying out in foreign countries. Also, he wants people to control their own actions as opposed to giving into social criterion. Nevertheless, this predicament is presented to him when he catches wind of an elephant that killed a Dradivian

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214 Words | 1 Pages

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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555 Words | 3 Pages

In his essay Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses diction effectively to convey an ambivalent tone that displays his complex attitudes toward the Natives. Orwell uses “evil-spirited” (285), “beasts” (285), and “crucified” (287) to describe the Burmese, and the word choice demonstrates the variety of connotations against the Natives. George Orwell states that he is “all for the Burmese and still against their oppressors, the British” (285), however, he characterizes the Burmese by using animalistic words which dehumanize them. Throughout the essay, George Orwell chooses his word choice to demonstrate a negative and positive attitude toward the Natives.

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849 Words | 4 Pages

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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692 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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1346 Words | 6 Pages

In this essay, he argues that a key perpetrator of bad language is staleness of imagery, a sort of recycling of overused ideas. By sharing a personal story, Orwell can create vivid imagery. Thus, he can ensure that his ideas are interesting and original. Also, through this style he is able to collapse the binary between oppressor and oppressed. He shows that except for the leaders and most powerful people, no one involved benefits from imperialism.

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595 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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1480 Words | 6 Pages

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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924 Words | 4 Pages

Imperialism is an ugly scar marring the face of world history, never to be erased. Very few modern countries origin stories can be told without a mention of imperialism. We can read about the horrible effects of imperialism in the news and books, often from the point of view of the oppressed. In George Orwell’s, “Shooting an Elephant”, we get acquainted with another view, the oppressor's, and he does not seem any happier. George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant", uses the symbolic characters, the Burmese (the crowd), the Narrator, and the Elephant to portray the true nature of imperialism.

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393 Words | 2 Pages

He rushed to the site with his rifle to stop the elephant but when he got there he found the elephant eating peacefully like a cow. Which huge crowed around him, George didn’t want to look weak in front of the locals and at same

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716 Words | 3 Pages

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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1003 Words | 5 Pages

“Shooting an Elephant” is one of the most important essays in English literature. It was written by George Orwell in 1931. The author of the story was a British colonial police officer in Burma, Myanmar, at the time the narrative was inspired by his own experiences. The author talked about what he himself had to endure while working here, especially after the event of shooting an elephant in front of the Burman people. Meanwhile, he did not want to do it.

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811 Words | 4 Pages

George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” is a “perplexing” account of life in India during times of British rule, through the eyes of a European Police Officer. His experience contains matters of oppression, conflict, and feelings that help to reveal the true, evil nature of Imperialism. Oppression is one of the faces of evil in this essay. The first instance of oppression is when we learn the conditions of being a Burman.

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1926 Words | 8 Pages

When the narrator heard the news about an elephant going wild and destroying most of the Burmese homes, he rushed to find the elephant and shoot it. During his journey, he told himself that he would not shoot the elephant. But when he arrived face to face with the large mammal, with thousands of people watching, he shot it multiple times until the elephant fell. Minutes later, he came back with a different weapon brutally killing the elephant.

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1260 Words | 6 Pages

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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1419 Words | 6 Pages

Actually he killed the elephant not because of the coolie, he killed it because he was afraid of looking like a fool in front of the natives. You may ask a question where the motive for this action comes from. Actually, this is how the oppressor becomes oppressed in imperialism. The situation which is described in the story shows us that motives for our actions do not depend on us all the time. The motives can be different depending on many factors such as others’ expectations, thinking about others’ benefits instead of yours and facing the situation in which you can be influenced by others

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