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Influenced By Pride In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

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Influenced by Pride The story Shooting an elephant, by George Orwell, gives the reader a small glimpse into the authors radicalistic perspective and first-hand experience. In a nutshell, George Orwell was a sub-divisional police officer for the British Colonial Empire in the country of Burma(Myanmar). He stated that he was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, but the Burmese hated Europeans and would try as hard as possible to give them a hard time. As a police officer, he was an obvious target and was mortified of being humiliated even more than what he already had been. 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. …show more content…

He despised imperialism, hated the Burmese, and was unhappy with his profession. He was left entirely forsaken with the thoughts in his mind as he had no one to share his detestation towards the imperialist powers of the British colony with, more specifically. Orwell experienced the British rule and saw it as an oppressive and tyrannical power because he had witnessed the torturous methods of confinement that the British government used. However, his hatred towards the Burmese people stemmed from their hatred towards the Europeans. Orwell stated that he was an obvious target, because he was European and a British officer. He had a history of being humiliated and that seriously dampened his pride. Orwell was torn between both feelings of hatred. He felt awful because he was basically enforcing the oppression upon the Burmese people, but he will soon come across a turning point within

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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.”

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The short memoir of “Shooting the Elephant” tells the story of George Orwell’s experience as a british policeman in imperialized Burma. His experience is made up of anger, hate and resentment of conditions he feels is out of his control. Orwell makes many revelations in this story, one of them being, “when the white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.” Orwell also claims, “He wears a mask; and his face grows to fit it.” These statements possess much validity and can be supported in multiple ways.

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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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The Burmese people can also be seen as a symbol of resistance, such as when they constantly targeted Orwell and harass Europeans. Orwell shows how they targeted him when he says, "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" (323). Orwell also shows how the Burmese people did small things to resist when he says “but if a European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress” (322). Fear is another symbol in which the

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There was a strong “anti-European feeling” that “was very bitter” (Orwell, 1936). This disdain for all foreign men led the Burmese to harass and act cruelly with any British police officer they encountered. However, it is worthy to mention that these people who acted such way never “had the guts to raise a riot” (Orwell, 1936). Nonetheless, the main character of the story, whose name is never mentioned, also holds a disdain for his own people. This character even goes as far as saying that “secretly -- I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors” (Orwell, 1936).

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Orwell says, “But that moment I glanced round at the crowd that had followed me”. From that moment, the officer started thinking about what the Burman expected from him, and what effect it would have on him if he did not shoot the elephant. The officer also began to think about what the Burmans thought of him; how he went from being a nobody to

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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 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”

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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.

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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.

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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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(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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Suddenly one individual's sins are placed upon everyone's shoulders, inflicting the repercussions of the guilty onto all those representing the US military. Orwell experiences this in a slightly different situation by being the one forced to act on behalf of the Empire. He is the one the set that expectation for the other police officers stationed in Burma. In Orwells essay he paints a picture of being forced to make a decision he doesn't moraley support because of the power he was to represent.

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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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“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay by George Orwell, where Orwell is speaking to the British population about their imperial government and how it is hurtful, harsh and inefficient to all. This story is the central focus from which the author builds his argument through the two dominant character, the elephant and its executioner. In this essay, the elephant and the British officer help prove that imperialism is a double-edge sword. The story concerns a colonial officer’s obligation to shoot an elephant. The narrator does not want to shoot the elephant but feels forced by a crowd of an innumerable residents, before whom he does not wish to appear undecided.

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