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Imperialism and george orwell
Imperialism and george orwell
Imperialism and george orwell
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Imperialism and george orwell
Imperialism and george orwell
Imperialism and george orwell
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Recommended: Imperialism and george orwell
Pg 269 The feeling i get from George Orwell’s shooting an elephant is that when he started out working as a civil servant for the British Raj that he didn't hate the Burmese. It feels like when he first started out, he got into it with good intentions and that this job wore him down. He has very strong thoughts on the empire and his distaste for it but then he turns around and has an uncontrollable rage for the Burmese.
The British had been an imperial empire at the time, and had ruled Burma. The Burmese people were very Anti-European and because of this they had been oppressive towards those who had been a part of the British Empire. Europeans were not widely liked throughout Burma because they treated the Burmese poorly. Burmese had been pretty harsh towards European’s because of this, laughing at and mocking them. Orwell
He appeals to the empathy of the audience by stating the actions of the Burmese people: “if a European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress” (Orwell, 1), “When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter.” (1). Actions with which would be more expected of the European imperialists rather than the Burmese people themselves. He clearly states his contempt for Imperialism through the following statement on his life and job: "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred for the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.”
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
Orwell conveniences the reader that imperialism has not only a negative impact on those run by imperialist, but also degrades those holding the power of an imperialist. Like other works Orwell has written they too have expressed his opinion on social and political aspects. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers can recognize his opinions on imperialism through the narrator’s display of pathos. Orwell over and over expresses his hatred, fear, doubt, and distress for authority of imperialist. The narrator states “As for the job [he] was doing, [he] hated it more bitterly than [he] perhaps make clear.”
For example, the way Kipling describes the White Man’s Burden is quite similar to Orwell due to the fact he was a police officer in an imperialistic nation, making Orwell participate in a similar situation to Kipling’s idea. Kipling felt like imperialism is wrong because it’s an advantage for the White Man to have power over the lower-class citizens. Orwell’s experience in Burma fit with Rhodes idea of imperialism because Rhodes believes that have that imperialistic power is right and that Orwell should just obey that
Orwell begins his piece of writing with an extremely weak character that has been mocked and laughed at by the people of Burma. Orwell depicts his job situation in which he was “stuck”
When Orwell moved to Burma, he noticed their extreme nationalism and their hatred towards Great Britain. Oceania was striving for strong nationalism and had hatred for Eurasia and Eastasia. Later, Orwell fell in love with his future wife, Ilene, be he felt like he
The self-perpetuating power of colonizers brings about such deplorable conditions for the oppressed people that they become subject to drastic material and non-material deprivation. They realize ultimate level of lack of self respect, and their culture, native language and conceivably, their religious views are in jeopardy of vanishing. During the years of British imperialism in Burma, the native people underwent brutally degrading treatment of the authorities. The situation was even lamentable in gaols, in which prostration and anguish of the Burmese prisoners were evident.(Orwell 1) For all that, many officers of colonizing nations reproach their own government for having to accomplish the merciless duty incumbent on them. In “Shooting an elephant” by George Orwell, the narrator, a police officer is an image of imperialist domination in Burma.
In the story, Orwell expresses that what Great Britain was doing to the Europeans , by taking over their government and land, was harmful and fruitless. The author says, “All this was perplexing and upsetting. For at the time I had-I chucked up my job and got out of it the better” (pg. 355). Orwell usage of symbolism here works in the personal narrative of the police officer expressing his feelings towards what is occurring in the town of Burma.
History of George Orwell: George Orwell adopted that name because of his patriotism towards England. George was the name of the king at the time and Orwell was the name a river, of his favorite countryside location. His legal name was Eric Arthur Blair and was born on June 25, 1903 in Motihari, a British providence at the time where his father worked. At the age of one he moved to England. After some time being there he managed to obtain enough scholarships to attend St. Cyprian.
In the short story “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, a young man experiences a case of influence and peer pressure like none other. An English police officer is placed in a Burmese area and assigned to protect the people there. The people of this town are not fond of the outsider and treat him very poorly. In order for the officer to gain a kind of reassurance from the Burmese people, he must find a way to make them happy. In the story, George Orwell uses imagery and characterization in order to demonstrate how a rite of passage can be forced upon a person in order for that person to obtain their place in society.
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.
In 1984, George Orwell writes about a dystopian society called Oceania with a totalitarian government. Winston, the main character, is an Outer Party member and works for the government who is under the rule of “Big Brother” and the Inner Party. The Party’s purpose is to rule Oceania with absolutism and have control over its citizens by using propaganda, censorship, and the brainwashing of children. Today, many modern-day countries use these techniques to maintain their power including: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Nazi Germany. First, North Korea and Oceania use propaganda to encourage patriotism to make themselves look better to citizens in order to keep a totalitarian rule.
The theme of imperial representation shows how those who follow the British Empire are used as puppets; enacting the same evil they might secretly condemn onto the Burmans. In Orwell’s account, he represents all British imperialists and their relationship with the people of Burma. But just as Orwell represents the British, the elephant is a metaphor for Burmese. The elephant is powerless and ultimately conquered, just as they are.