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"Shooting an Elephant" is one of the most popular of George Orwell's essays. Like his essays "A hanging" and "How the Poor Die", it is chiefly autobiographical. It deals with his experience as a police-officer in Burma. After having completed his education, Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police, and served in Burma, from 1922 to 1927, as an Assistant Superintendent of Police. His experiences as an officer in Burma were bitter. He was often a victim of the hostility and injustices at the hands of his colleagues and officers. Peter Stansky and William Abrahams in their book The Unknown Orwell write "He was friendless and inexperienced, not certain of what to expect and fearful of proving to be inadequate, a predictable failure."
Orwell could not grow a liking for the oppressive British colonial rule in Burma, and felt ashamed of being a part of it. He was disturbed by the conflict of loyalties going on in his heart because of the fact that he was at once opposed to the dirty work of Imperialistic feelings, but could not express them properly. He loathed the tyrannous and oppressive rule of a handful of British on a large number of Burmese people. He belonged to the class of oppressors but had sympathy with the uneasiness of conscience made it difficult for him to continue in the service of Imperial Police. The native people's hatred for the British and the strong anti-English feeling and atmosphere in Burma created more difficulties for him. Ultimately, Orwell gave up his job in Burma, and left for England in August, 1927. In the `Autobiographical Note', he explains the reasons for having to leave this job thus: "I gave it up partly because the climate had ruined my health, partly because I already had vague ideas of writing b...
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...t it is not what the essay is chiefly about. The essay is actually concerned mainly with the writer's own personality and his views on various matters such as the evils of tyranny and oppression associated with imperialism. It succeeds in presenting the contradictions in the writer's thought and feeling and clarifying his complex attitude towards the British Raj. According to Keith Alldritt, "Shooting an Elephant marks an important stage in Orwell's career because it shows his first discovery of a form appropriate to his needs .........Shooting an Elephant is a transitional essay. It contains vestiges of the early symbolist manner and it also points forward to the mature essays of the forties." The essay is, as Tom Hopkinson points out, "an example of his prose style at its most lucid and precise." It is also emblematic of Orwell's moral nature and human concern.
Orwell, George. “Shooting an Elephant.” Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. Ed. Sonia Orwell. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1950. 3-12.
The quest for power is one which has been etched into the minds of men throughout history. However, it can be said that true power is not a result of one’s actions but comes from the following one’s own beliefs without being influenced by others. This principle sets up the story for Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. The protagonist, Orwell himself, is a sub divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. Orwell must try to find and use his inner power when he is faced with the decision of whether or not to kill an elephant which has ravaged the Burman’s homes. The state of power established through the imperialistic backdrop show that Orwell, as a colonist, should be in control. As well, the perspective and ideas given by Orwell show his true character and lessen the overall power set up for him. Lastly, the symbols shown are representations of traditional forms of power, but take on different implications in the story. In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses setting, characterization and symbols to show that true power comes from following the dictates of one’s conscience.
In this story ,Orwell is taking part in imperialism by proving his power and dignity to the natives presenting imperialism metaphorically through the use of animals. He is using the elephant as a symbol of imperialism representing power as an untamed animal that has control over the village. He uses a large and very powerful animal to represent a significant metaphor for imperialism.. In doing so he leads to the understanding that the power behind imperialism is only as strong as its dominant rulers. Orwell?s moral values are challenged in many different ways, ironically enough while he too was the oppressor. He is faced with a very important decision of whether or not he should shoot the elephant. If he does so, he will be a hero to his people. In turn, he would be giving in to the imperial force behind the elephant that he finds so unjust and evil. If he lets the elephant go free and unharmed the natives will laugh at him and make him feel inferior for not being able to protect the...
In “Shooting an Elephant” writer George Orwell illustrates the terrible episode that explains more than just the action of “shooting an elephant.” Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and reveals a number of emotions he experienced during the short, but traumatic event. Effectively, the writer uses many literary techniques to plant emotions and create tension in this scene, leading to an ironic presentation of imperialism. With each of the realistic descriptions of the observing multitude and the concrete appeal of the narrator’s pathos, Orwell thrives in persuading the audience that imperialism not only has a destructive impact on those being governed under the imperialists’ oppressive power, but also corrupts
Every day, each individual will look back on decisions he or she have made and mature from those experiences. Though it takes time to realize these choices, the morals and knowledge obtained from them are priceless. In George Orwell’s nonfictional essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, a young Orwell was stationed in Burma for the British imperial forces, tasked to deal with an elephant who destroyed various parts of the village Moulmein while its owner was away. Backed by second thoughts and a crowd of thousands, he finds himself shooting the elephant and reflecting that it was not justified; however, it was a choice pushed by his duty and the people. Written with a fusion of his young and old self’s outlook on shooting the elephant, Orwell’s essay is a sensational read that captivates his audience and leaves them questioning his decision.
To begin with, Orwell was a police officer in a town that was anti-European. He was often criticized from a distance by the young Brumen men that he meets on a daily basis; when they thought it was safe to do so. Orwell describes how unpleasant he is with the insults from the brumen community stating “Theoretically – and secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British”. He secretly hated his job, and realized that imperialism was much evil than he had thought. Knowing this, he realized the quicker he left his job the better off he will be. Moreover, when the Brumen community started to complain about a loose elephant that has been destroying the bazaar; he knew this opportunity came at the right time. It was a moment to show the helpless Brumens that he can help out the community. Seeing the damage that the elephant had caused to the community, Orwell sent from an elephant rifle. Indeed, seeing the riffle the community assumed he was going to shoot the elephant. It made Orwell feel very uneasy with him stating, “I had no intention of shooting the elephant – I had merely sent for the...
Reading Response: “Shooting an Elephant” In “Shooting an Elephant”George Orwell the author tells of when he was a young subdivisional police officer in Moulmein, Lower Burma during the 1920’s. Burma was rife with anti european sentiments. As a british officer, George is taunted in the streets and sneered at seemingly everywhere he patrols, and is confronted with the inhumane treatment of the Indians under English rule. Officer orwell feels guilty for the Indians. On the other hand his rage at being bullied causes him to enjoy the thought of stabbing a Buddhist priest.
I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool." So ends George Orwell's poignant reminiscence of an incident representing the imperialist British in Burma. Unlike Soyinka, who wrote about colonialism from the African's point of view, Orwell, like Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness, presents the moral dilemmas of the imperialist. Orwell served with the Imperialist Police in Burma while it was still part of the British Commonwealth and Empire. His service from 1922 to 1927 burdened himwith a sense of guilt about British colonialism as well a need to make some personal expiation for it (Norton 2259). "Shooting an Elephant" chronicles an incident in which Orwell confronts a moral dilemma and abandons his morals to escape the mockery of the native Burmans. He repeatedly shoots and kills an elephant which had ravaged a bazaar and scared many Burmans even though "As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him" (6).
“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell takes us through a fateful day for Orwell, the day he shot an elephant. The whole time, he believed he was in charge of the situation, but in fact he was at the mercy of the crowd. The crowd played a major role in the fate of the elephant. In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, Orwell emphasizes how he was feeling on that day and gives us a look into his head. Orwell does this tactically to show the reader that the empire has very little true control over what happens in their colonies, in fact Orwell claims that they are just puppets to the Burmese people.
When he finial find the elephant Orwell say “I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” But when he lays his eyes on the crowd he changes his stance to “but I did not want to shoot the elephant.”(Orwell 199). He felt guilty for shooting the elephant when he describe that the elephant worth more alive than dead, but despite the many reason not to shoot the elephant, he took a shot. Orwell describes “when I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick …I fired again into the same spot…I fired a third time. That was the shot that did it for him.”(199) the shooting of the elephant represent the Burma people trying to stay alive and over powering by the
Killing an enemy chips away at your humanity. It is human nature to long for acceptance within one’s community. Often, one is forced to sacrifice bits of their morals to achieve this acceptance. In “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell illustrates this concept by recalling an incident that occurred during his time as a British police officer in Moulmein, Burma. The task he was set to accomplish while here was the dispatching of a renegade elephant. It is during this period of time that Orwell comes to terms with this inner struggle. Orwell communicates the story in first-person point of view. He blames British
Orwell centers his article around the emotional conflict that he faced when shooting the elephant and how he was torn between the pressure that was forced on him by the people, expecting him to behave like a “sahib” and his human morals, that the elephant should not be shot since it is a harmless creature. Orwell's hatred for the British Empire is seen through the guilt he had when he mentions seeing the elephant lying there powerless to move and yet powerless to die. Another strategy Orwell uses is the emotional description; he gives the readers a sense of how he feels throughout the situation of shooting the elephant and about the imperialistic power that is used to the disadvantage of others, that are not as powerful. He explains how the crowd of people watching him so intensely makes him feel like a puppet in the hand of someone else telling him what to do and in the same moment he realizes how the British Empire is also able to take over by controlling the East. He uses description to describe the setting of the scene while comparing the crowd of people pressuring him to kill the elephant to the Europeans domination of the east.
‘Shooting an Elephant’ is a short story written by George Orwell in 1936. The story is about a young British man who serves as a police officer in Burma, which is part of British India in the 1920s. This policeman is torn between his hate for the British occupation and the abuse he gets from the natives on a daily basis. Politically, he is on the Burmese side because he despises the oppressive British rule in Burma. Even though he is against the occupation, he has to act superior over the natives in order to maintain British power over the land. The policeman is against imperialism because he believes it humiliates and restricts the freedom of the natives in their own land. Not only that, but it also causes people to be prejudiced towards the Burmese, which in return makes the natives resent them. Through anaphora, epiphany and symbolism, the narrator was able to represent the Burmese people in ways to make a larger point about imperialism.
Orwell is an unhappy young policeman who lives in mental isolation. He hates British imperialism, he hates Burmese natives, and he hates his job. He is completely alone with his thoughts since he cannot share his idea that "imperialism was an evil thing" with his countrymen. Orwell sees the British rule as "an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down. . . upon the will of prostate peoples" because he observes firsthand the cruel imprisonments and whippings that the British use to enforce their control. Nor can he talk to the Burmese because of the "utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East." This "utter silence" results from the reasoning behind imperialism that says, "Our cultures are different. My culture has more power than your culture. Therefore, my culture is superior in every way, and it will rule yours." If one is a member of a superior culture, one must not make jokes, share confidences, or indicate in any way that a member of the inferior culture is one's equal. A wall, invisible but impenetrable, stands between the British and the Burmese. His hatred for...
"Shooting an Elephant" is perhaps one of the most anthologized essays in the English language. It is a splendid essay and a terrific model for a theme of narration. The point of the story happens very much in our normal life, in fact everyday. People do crazy and sometimes illegal moves to get a certain group or person to finally give them respect. George Orwell describes an internal conflict between his personal morals and his duty to his country to the white man's reputation. The author's purpose is to explain the audience (who is both English and Burmese) about the kind of life he is living in Burma, about the conditions, circumstances he is facing and to tell the British Empire what he think about their imperialism and his growing displeasure for the imperial domination of British Empire.