Furthermore, the essay Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, is a reflective story on Orwell, that has concerns on the British Empire and
Shooting an Elephant: Orwell on Imperialism: Making The Abstract Appear Natural George Orwell creates a powerful argument against imperialism through the presentation of its many flaws in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”. This essay describes his life as a young police officer in Burma when he is called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant against his better judgment. In this essay, he asserts that imperialism dehumanizes both the perpetrators and the native people while creating unnatural situations and conflicts. It also forces the perpetrators to watch their every action, acting in ways with which they may not be comfortable. Orwell’s argument is further reinforced because he presents it through a personal story in order to exhibit the awful traits of imperialism as well as strengthen his stance by providing supportive evidence.
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.
Throughout the story "Shooting an Elephant", Orwell indirectly conveys his political beliefs. He does this by expressing his feelings toward his position and then by making symbolic connections between the subjects in the passage and in political world. The tame elephant gone astray represents a country that needs some form of guidance and restraint. Orwell symbolized a despotic government and the ideology of imperialism. Because he didn 't believe in imperialism, Orwell 's original intentions were to frighten the elephant into submission; however, his intentions changed whenever he realized that the inhabitants of the town were expecting him to kill the elephant.
George Orwell’s essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experience killing an out of control elephant while working as a police officer in the British colony of Burma. It highlights the cruelness of imperialism by showing the effects of Britain's control of Burma. In his essay, Orwell utilizes figurative language in order to explain his opposition and hatred towards the system of imperialism. To begin with, Orwell objects the idea of imperialism through the use of imagery.
Imperialism is an ugly scar marring the face of world history, never to be erased. Very few modern countries origin stories can be told without a mention of imperialism. We can read about the horrible effects of imperialism in the news and books, often from the point of view of the oppressed. In George Orwell’s, “Shooting an Elephant”, we get acquainted with another view, the oppressor's, and he does not seem any happier. George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant", uses the symbolic characters, the Burmese (the crowd), the Narrator, and the Elephant to portray the true nature of imperialism.
Shooting an elephant, by George Orwell (1936) The internal struggle of George Orwell in regard to his conscience in terms of his stance towards the British Empire and the native Burmese is one of the main characterstics of Shooting an elephant. Orwell himself opposes the British empire, but due to the role he is required to play, as a police officer, his physical appearance indicates that he opposes the native Burmans. His role as a police officer disables him to interact with the Burmans on an equal level; the narrator is required to keep the Burmans in their subordinate place.
“ I hate imperialism. I detest colonialism. And I fear the consequences of their last bitter struggle for life. We are determined that our nation, and the world as a whole, shall not be the plaything of one small corner of the world.” (Sukarno).
Although Orwell had already elucidated his stance on imperialism when he said that he was “all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British,” he later refutes this and suggests that imperialism harms both the persecutor and the victim by comparing himself to “the leading actor of the piece,” feeling nervous as the “theatre curtain go up,” highlighting his weakness. Furthermore, by likening himself to a puppet, he points out that having to “spend his life in trying to impress the ‘natives’,” and “do what the ‘natives’ expect of him,” makes the Burmese people dominant over the British. By incorporating metaphors in in “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell offers the audience an interpretation of his realization that he may as well be the victim of the Burmans rather than the other way
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”.
Although Orwell does not agree with society’s wrongdoings, he is forced to obey. When Orwell is expected to shoot an elephant he remarks that he “did not in the least want to shoot him, but these people (the natives) expected it” of him and he was forced to do this against his will (Orwell 989). In this situation, Orwell takes on characteristics of a slave. The oppressor “wears a mask and his face grows to fit it.” The mask, or societal expectations eventually dehumanizes the individual’s face, or his humanistic qualities.
Quora defines social injustice as "the elimination of various human rights from a broad variance of unfair treatment that creates negative outcomes for a minority, aggregate, or underserved population. " It has been said that George Orwell loved to look for people and organizations to wage verbal war with, that he had a tendency to blow small issues out of proportion, but is that what he is doing in his piece Shooting An Elephant? Orwell grew up in India and knew firsthand the struggles the Indian people went through. Few people outside of India knew or cared what went on there. To Britain, India was nothing more than an untapped resource to bleed dry, and a people to extort (or to "convert" depending on whose side you believe).
The Elephant 's Demise Orwell’s essay was an emotional drain, as the passages entailed very descriptive and gory images conveyed through deep explanation and detail. The essay emphasizes the situation from a first person perspective by immersing the reader into a situation of executing an elephant which had gone ‘must’ with an overzealous crowd expecting an exhibit of slaughter. The goal in describing the savagery was to enhance the understanding of his conflicts including the physical, emotional, psychological, and the societal expectations of the Burmese.
“As soon as I saw the dead man, I sent an orderly to a friend’s house nearby to borrow an elephant rifle.(p.135)” Although it seem like Orwell is doing the heroic action and truly taking charge, he’s really just using this dead man’s life to justify killing the elephant. Having little to no care for this man, Orwell looked pass the death for a moment showing his own prejudice by calling him an
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
