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.
Moreover, “Shooting an elephant” by George Orwell was published in 1936 (New Writing). This essay describes the experience of an
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.
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.
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
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
In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell draws on his personal experiences in Burma to write an essay about the shooting of an elephant that has been terrorizing a bazaar, destroying huts, and even murdering a man. When Orwell discovers the elephant seems to have calmed down after experiencing Musth, and is padding his knees with and eating grass. Orwell is presented with the decision of wither or not to shoot the elephant. Orwell is in a position in which his has to choose between his life and the life of an elephant. He has to think about all of the people behind him, who once despised him, even spat on him and his fellow Europeans, but now that he wielded a gun stood behind him.
K.Kapler 8-26-17 English 1A Lourie,Iven The story, “Shooting an Elephant”, by George Orwell, states an elephant that ‘got loose’ (134,135) and was ‘running wildly’ (135,136) in the streets of “Moulmein’ (133). And since Orwell was part of a police force,which the people of Burma didn’t like. Nor liked him because he was a different color from how the people of Burma looked. Yet he was called out from his normal duties to ‘deal with the wild elephant’ (135,136). When he arrived, to ‘Moulmein” (133), which was a ‘lower Burma’ (133) city, his job was to find the elephant and deal with the issue it was causing to stress out the people of Burma.
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.
“Shooting an Elephant” is about the inner conflict that defines Orwell’s experience as a police officer for the British Raj in Burma. It starts with a straightforward discussion of that conflict—what constitutes it and how it manifests—and it proceeds to illustrate it by way of scene and action. immediately begins the short story by first exclaiming his opinions on British Imperialism. Orwell relays his inner conflict towards imperialism by using metaphors and giving examples of his own personal experience with moral dilema. George Orwell had previously described British imperialism by claiming that the values of British are “evil” and regularly expresses his rage for the empire he served.
Orwell grabbed his rifle and headed down to the patties where the elephant was said to be; although not rampaging anymore the Burmese people goaded him to kill the elephant with his rifle (4). Ending this narrative-like scenario with a seemingly peaceful elephant being killed due to the pressure of
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.
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.
Orwell’s vivid description of the elephant’s rampage, “The people said that the elephant had come suddenly
