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What Is The Cause Of Destruction In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

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Why do you believe Orwell shot the elephant? Cite passages from the essay to support your belief?

In Shooting An Elephant, by George Orwell, the narrator talks about an event in his past in which he shoots an elephant. He was working as the sub-divisional police officer of Moulmein, but was not looked as much of an authority figure. Even though the elephant had stopped causing destruction by the end of the story I believe Orwell did have to shoot the elephant because the elephant had caused a lot of destruction in the village and would have been made fun of if he hadn’t. As I read Shooting An Elephant, I noticed the elephant was causing mass destruction because it was angry. If it were angry that means there was a cause to it becoming angry but it would have not been a good choice upon the actions of Orwell if he had gone to look for the source of the elephant’s anger. That would cause more destruction. “It had already destroyed somebody's bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some fruit …show more content…

“As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so” ( Orwell 86). Before the incident with the elephant occurred it was obvious Orwell had little to no respect from the people because he was a police officer. It is still somewhat like that now with cops but more hidden. A couple thousand of villagers walked with Orwell to the scene where the elephant would soon die. “The crowd grew very still, and a deep, low, happy sigh, as of people who see the theater curtain go up at last” (Orwell 91). The people of the village targeted Orwell because he was the police officer, but, once the elephant came into the village jeopardizing their safety they were all dependent on Orwell. If Orwell did not shoot the elephant he would have been seen as a

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In the passages How to Tell a True War Story by Tim O’Brien and Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, there are many similarities and differences between the two passages, but the differences exceed the similarities. While both sections talk about a shooter, human death, and animal death; they differentiate in the shooters motives, pacing, and narration structure. Just as How to Tell a True War Story has the death of Curt Lemon, Shooting an Elephant also has the death of the coolie. In Tim O’Brien’s story, Curt Lemon is killed by a boobytrapped bomb in which O’Brien leads himself to believe is the sunlight. The passage goes on to describe the events leading up to Lemon’s death and how O’Brien believes that Curt Lemon would have thought the sunlight killed him and not the 105-round, “It was not the sunlight.

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Hannah Edmiston Boudreau AP Language Friday 25 September, 2015 Shooting an Elephant Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell in 1936, describes his experience working as a British officer located in Moulmein, Burma. He writes his essay to reveal the cruelty and disastrous outcome of imperialism he witnesses. Orwell uses strong resource of language such as symbolism, metaphors and imagery to express his disdain for British imperialism. Orwell uses symbolism to connect the character of the elephant to the effects of imperialism.

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First of two start of, the most rhetorically influential element of this story is the authors background. While George Orwell is a well-known for being an English author and journalist, he is very famous for being a political satirist. In this story, the audiences can see Orwell’s personal opinions on social and political views. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers detected Orwell’s opinions on imperialism through the narrator’s display of pathos. Throughout the story, the narrator shows feelings of hatred, doubt, fear, anxiety, and distress at the fact that he is in a position of mocked authority.

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Rhetorical Analysis: “Shooting an Elephant” Contrary to popular belief, the oppressors of imperialism lack freedom. Imperialists are usually powerful and maintain control over the native people of the land they are taking over. It is expected for someone with great power to have choices and freedoms, however, that is not necessarily the case. Sometimes power can limit or restrict the choices one makes.

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Even though Orwell did commit the crime of shooting an elephant, throughout the story he used ethos, pathos, and figurative language to convince the audience if given the opportunity he would never shoot an elephant again because the elephant represents the innocence of people.     First and foremost, Orwell establishes his ethos. As stated in Everything’s an Argument, ethos is described as the author's credibility. He establishes his ethos right from the beginning of the story when he states he works for the British but he despises them.

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"I did not in the least want to shoot him." (Orwell). The narrator lets us know the feeling he was going through and obviously did not intend on shooting the elephant. Although, No one ever convinced him to take action and shoot the elephant. He simply shot the elephant for his own personal feelings of not wanting to be rejected and to feel like a hero.

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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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Whenever you want during this dangerous occasion Orwell could have created the decision to do as opposed to what the mob of Burmans desired. When he was experienced with the choice of whether or not to capture the elephant he could of created the decision to not to capture it. In reality, that is exactly what he desired to do: “I did not want to kill the elephant.” Actually, his choice to pay attention to the mob and not to his own moral sense was, in itself, an act of freedom. Totally freedom is unbreakable and existing in all choices.

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The purpose of “Shooting an Elephant” was to show that sometimes people do things they know aren’t the right decision just to impress everyone else. The officer felt that,“It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him” (Orwell 4). As he shot the elephant he

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Who is at greater fault? If a tyrant is given the power, albeit to abuse, is it his fault to utilize the power given, or the fault of those who bestow the power on them? Failure cannot be pinned on just one person, but the people involved as a whole. Therefore, by indirectly causing the collapse of one 's own community, it is the community 's fault for acting as catalyst to the events to come. Although unintentional, it is the passiveness and ignorance of the farm animals that leads to the utter failure of their ideal society.

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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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Zachary Conners SUNY – Eng. 12 Mrs. O’Malley December 15, 2014 “Shooting an Elephant” is a persuasive rhetorical piece written by George Orwell used to describe Orwell’s feelings about imperialism. Orwell uses pathos, logos, and ethos to convey his feelings towards imperialism and how destructive it can be. Born 1903, George Orwell, novelist, essayist, and critic, was best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty- Four. Son of a British servant, Orwell spent most of his days in India, where his father had been stationed.

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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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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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