Recently, a British Police Officer was called upon to attend to an escaped elephant in Moulmein (Lower Burma). During his rampage, the creature trample a hut, multiple vendor stands in the bazaar, and trampled a rubbish van. The officer set off on his mission, taking information from locals about the elephant’s wherebeing. Seconds before he located the animal a group of children ran by and shouts of anguish where heard. As he rounded the corner the officer found that the elephant had trampled a coolie. He says, “He was lying on his belly with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to one side. His face was coated with mud, the eyes wide open, the teeth bared and grinning with an expression of unendurable agony,” (Shooting an Elephant). After
It is the highest rank that an elephant capturer can attain (Worall). This “power” has never been scientifically studied, but the people of both Burma and Thailand believe that this phenomenon exists. There are not many Khru Ba Yai left, it is said that there are a few still alive in both Burma and Thailand (Worall). These individuals became incredibly important when elephants went into “musth.” Several times a year, bull elephants go into a period called musth, a period of temporary madness. When in this state, bull elephant’s aggressiveness, testosterone levels, and mating drive spikes tremendously (Ogden). Studies have found that bull elephants are flooded with up to ten times as much testosterone as usual causing them to attack other elephants, mahouts, or anything else they may see as a threat (Ogden). In Elephant Run, Nick is given a first-hand look at how horrifying an encounter with a bull elephant in musth can be. “…The bull had uprooted every plant within reach and had plowed the ground around him into soft loam with his heavy tusks. As they approached, he started straining against his ropes in an effort to get to them” (Smith 59). However, something incredible transpired soon after Nick witnessed the roped up and infuriated bull elephant. “The monk stepped closer to the mad bull. He put his hands on one of his tusks and he leaned his old shaved head toward the bull’s ear, as if he were saying something to him” (Smith 61). The bull then relaxed after the monk named ‘Hilltop’ spoke to it. The Khru Ba Yai are a mysterious group with very few numbers in existence. It is a practice that seems utterly impossible but is ingrained in the Burmese culture as reality. The mahout tradition and practice is something so unique and utterly incredible, they risk life and limb to train and work with these magnificent animals. Interestingly enough, the mahouts of Burma actually helped in
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.
The essay “Stranger in the village” by James Baldwin, and “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, share a similarity in their experience in a new environments. Orwell a British officer he was not warmly welcome, the Burmese people hated. As for Baldwin it is more of racism than hated. Both essays happen in unfamiliar places where there were racism and discrimination. They do not fit in with the natives and is judged because of their nationalities. However, the themes of these writing differ.
Tower shows the reader, in no uncertain terms, that he himself struggles with his emotional reaction to hunting and shooting an elephant. We see him chastise himself for his emotional reactions, desperately trying to logic his way through them. In trying to compartmentalize his own emotions, he attempts to make the readers do the same. His description of dismembering the dead elephant is one of these attempts: “As the knives flash, the animal becomes less extraordinary, less like the world’s largest land mammal and more a bricolage of familiar butcher-shop hues. The trunk is stripped of its leather, and for
In the essay ?Shooting an Elephant? by George Orwell, the author uses metaphors to represent his feelings on imperialism, the internal conflict between his personal morals, and his duty to his country. Orwell demonstrates his perspectives and feelings about imperialism.and its effects on his duty to the white man?s reputation. He seemingly blends his opinions and subjects into one, making the style of this essay generally very simple but also keeps it strong enough to merit numerous interpretations. Orwell expresses his conflicting views regarding imperialism throughout the essay by using three examples of oppression and by deliberatly using his introspection on imperialism.
Throughout "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, he addresses his internal battle with the issues of morality and immorality. He writes of several situations that show his immoral doings. When George Orwell signed up for a five-year position as a British officer in Burma he was unaware of the moral struggle that he was going to face. Likewise, he has an internal clash between his moral conscious and his immoral actions. Therefore, Orwell becomes a puppet to the will of the Burmese by abandoning his thoughts of moral righteousness. This conflicts with the moral issue of relying upon other's morals, rather than one's own conscience.
Did you notice that we lived in the world within words? Did you notice that there was even a personality in every single word? For instance, did you notice that a word changed its own meaning depending on its cohesion with other words, the tone and gestures we supported it, the context and the circumstances in which we used it? Did you notice that a word could even change its mood, depending on how we handled it?
The glorious days of the imperial giants have passed, marking the death of the infamous and grandiose era of imperialism. George Orwell's essay, Shooting an Elephant, deals with the evils of imperialism. The unjust shooting of an elephant in Orwell's story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters, the elephant and its executioner. The British officer, the executioner, acts as a symbol of the imperial country, while the elephant symbolizes the victim of imperialism. Together, the solider and the elephant turns this tragic anecdote into an attack on the institution of imperialism.
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
The article ‘Bong Su is dead, broken by cramped and impoverished zoo conditions’ written by Peter Stroud and commented on by The Melbourne Zoo talks about the sudden death of Melbourne Zoo’s well known elephant Bong Su that was put to rest by euthanasia as a result of his extensive pain caused by Arthritis . There is a debate on whether the conditions Bong Su was exposed to, gave rise to a worsened arthritis which led to his euthanization. Both Peter Stroud and The Melbourne Zoo, provide insights into their personal experience with Bong Su attempting to inform readers and persuade them to believe and in extension support their arguments. Peter Stroud who wrote this article for the age uses a passionate tone and negative connotation to convince
Unanticipated choices one is forced to make can have long-lasting effects. In "Shooting an Elephant," by George Orwell, the author recounts an event from his life when he was about twenty years old during which he had to choose the lesser of two evils. Many years later, the episode seems to still haunt him. The story takes place at some time during the five unhappy years Orwell spends as a British police officer in Burma. He detests his situation in life, and when he is faced with a moral dilemma, a valuable work animal has to die to save his pride.
Mankind acts in a situation to determine the outcome. Control of a man indicates pressure from the crowd where George Orwell writes in the story, “Shooting an Elephant.” In the narrative story, Orwell considers shooting an elephant for the crowd’s pleasure. From the negative comments, Burman’s made, he recognizes a way for the harsh remarks to stop. The crowd yells for him to pull the trigger, but he did not want to kill.
Like the elephant, the empire is dominant. The elephant, an enormous being in the animal kingdom, represents the British Empire in its magnitude. The size represents power as it is assumed that the two are insuppressible. Also, the elephant and the British empire, both share hideousness in the effect it causes in Burma. To create a comparison between the elephant and the empire, the author describes the elephant as wild and terrorizing when the “elephant was ravaging the bazaar” (324); thus, it symbolizes the British Empire is restraining the economy of the Burmese. When the elephant kills the Indian laborer, it represents the British oppressing the Burmese. On the other hand, the elephant is a symbol of colonialism. Like the natives of Burma who have been colonized and who abuse Orwell, the elephant has a destructive behavior by being provoked and oppressed “it had been chained up” (324). Despite the fact of its aggressive behavior and the Burmese’ more astute rebelliousness could be undeniably good things, they are doing their best given the oppressive conditions, both the Burmese and the elephant have to endure. Also, the elephant symbolizes the economy of the oppressor, as well as the oppressed. This animal is a “working elephant” (326) in Burma, and for the colonial power. The Burmese are also working animals because they are hard workers and involuntarily are following the rules of the British empire.
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell In his essay Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell explains how the controlling authorities in a hostile country are not controlling the country's population but are in fact a mere tool of the populous. Orwell's experience with the elephant provided the insight for his essay, and gives a clear example of the control the natives have over the authorities. The authorities in Lower Burma were there to police the state that their government controlled, but were only accomplished in being controlled by the people of the state. Orwell finds this truth in his encounter with the elephant that has ravaged parts of the city.
"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.