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Shooting In Elephant By George Orwell Essay

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A person who is getting peer pressured to do a deed, is often most likely to commit it. This is often because the person doesn't want to seem weak, or any of those sorts, and wants to appear the opposite. People have their own reasons, and sometimes selfish, to be motivated to do something. In Orwell's "Shooting in Elephant," Orwell himself acknowledges and shows evidence of this through the instances of his self consciousness, and my own personal observations. Orwell accepts that humans have their own selfish reasons to be motivated to do an act through the fact of his self consciousness. Most people have their own morals and they mostly follow them, but sometimes they do not. Orwell is a good example of this. He doesn't want to shoot the elephant, and believes he shouldn't unless it attacks him. However, he shows to care what people think about him and his future actions, "Moreover, I did not in the least want to shoot him... But at the moment I glanced round at the that had followed me (Orwell 288)." Here, Orwell is most likely self consciousness about what he is about to do. The crowd doesn't know they are making him nervous about his decision, but yet they expect him to do something that is morally wrong to Orwell. He knows that because he is self conscious, he is willing to please them in any way he can, "Here was I, the white man with his gun... seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only …show more content…

Unfortunately, society has been always corrupted. In addition, people know about this, yet they get peer pressured to do what's against their values and morals. If the majority of society weren't swayed by their decision, people wouldn't have to be afraid or self conscious of themselves. No one would care of what others think of them, based on a decision in a dilemma or

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In class we learned about nine different modes of rhetoric and we were asked to use three of them to compare two of the multiple stories we read in class to each other. The two stories I chose were Learning to read and Write by Frederick Douglass and Shooting an elephant by George Orwell. Learning to Read and Write is a non fictional memoir about Frederick Douglass’s life as an african american slave in the south, and the challenges he had learning to read and write. The second story is shooting and elephant by george orwell which is also non fiction about Orwell's time as a police enforcer for the british empire occupying India and how he struggles to deal with an elephant. A theme of both these stories is oppression and how Douglass and Orwell both feel the same way about it, even though one is the oppressed and the other is the oppressor but are both stuck in their social roles and can’t change their situations.

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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.

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In this moment, when the “white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom he destroys” (2). The narrator realizes that he is forced to put on a façade of power when the people demand it. As Orwell mulls over the critical decision, he comes upon the realization that the “white man” must display strength and authority when the people demand it. In this scene, Orwell also juxtaposes the powerful “white man” against an “absurd puppet… a hollow, posing dummy… about to perform a trick” (2). The narrator is equated to a helpless doll forced to move whenever the native demand.

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Orwell's sureness and strength in his article acts as evidence of weapons and their effects, because it helps confirm his claim as something that will for sure happen. This allows the audience to trust Orwell's claim, and his good development creates a very substantial article. Orwell also uses ethos by connecting himself with society by using informal language stating, "We were once told". Orwell is affirming that he and his audience were manipulated by the state. He is putting himself on the audience’s level, which makes the audience feel like they can relate to him.

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“Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.” This quote from Buddhism depicts the idea of the short story, Shooting an Elephant, by George Orwell. In the story Orwell committed the crime of shooting an elephant, which legally he had the right to do, but morally felt guilty about killing an innocent animal. According to Everything's an Argument, a correct causal argument needs to have a claim, warrant, and evidence.

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Orwell appeals to authority by his verb tense shifts that create a reflective tone and use of word choice. For example, the speaker states how, “ I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on

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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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The power of peer pressure can evidently raise an error in judgement as it allows you to act in a manner to please others before pleasing yourself. Peer-pressure is an influential demonstration of how someone can neglect the morals of themselves in order to please others around them. This dilemma was evident in George Orwell 's “Shooting an Elephant” as the power of peer pressure forced George Orwell to shoot an elephant he originally didn’t want to shoot. Nevertheless, the power of peer pressure forced him to act out the will of others around him. This is an influential demonstration of how peer pressure can make a person neglect their own morals and consciousness just to please those around them.

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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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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.

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In response to this impactful experience, Orwell composes the essay “Shooting an Elephant”. Claiming that both the oppressor and the oppressed is impaired by imperialism, Orwell supports his statement through displaying the irony in his relationship with the natives, adding edges of displeasure and sarcasm in his voice, and vivid imageries of unpleasant situations in order to demonstrate his mixed feelings of frustration and guilt towards the empire’s doings. Due to the fact that British imperialism has established prejudice among locals and Europeans, Orwell’s relationship with the Burmese as a white policeman

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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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