Shooting An Elephant Imperialism Essay

Conflict with the inner man or with the Giant beast?

“Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell investigates the moral problems of imperialism in Burma, because of imperialism several morals come up, which turned out to be an intresting cause of immoralities too. The main character of his story, a English police officer, whos name we don't know says that “when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. His argument must be borken down for its causes and plants a seed to further understand the positive and negative cultural outcomes of imperialism for the colonizer and the colonized. By connecting imperialism’s tyranny to freedom, the story argues that the police officer sacrifices his moral self, in order to reinforce the western

As the police officer of “Shooting an Elephant” notes, “the Burmese population had no weapons”. The English have brought weapons with them that can help strengthen the defense system of the locals. In this case, the English serve as the defenders of their colonies. Which to me really is a undercover of capitalism. Cover up in ways that the people feel comfortable, then behind the scenes start destroying thier rights, way of living and traditional ways. Because of his official duties, the officer understands upfront the difference between real and fictional moralities of the British colonization history. The British believe that they colonized Burma because they are racially and culturally superior to them. They argue that imperialism is moral because they have saved the locals from their moral and cultural ignorance. Racial prejudice is clear from how the British see the locals, for instance, after the protagonist kills the elephant, the “younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie” (Orwell). These people place a higher value on an elephant than a