On Shooting An Elephant Essay

In George Orwell’s essay, “On Shooting An Elephant”, he uses the elephant as a symbol to foreshadow the independence of British Burma. When Orwell describes the previous state of the elephant, he writes “ It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’. It had been chained up as tame elephants are when their attack of ‘must is due”(paragraph 3). This describes the state of Burma before it’s independence in January 4, 1948. Burma was “tamed” during the oppression by the British, similarly to how the elephant was domesticated by it’s owner. When the Burmese had reached their limit of enduring the pain that the British were causing them, they went ‘must’, which means to go insane, and later they revolted. This “taming” of Burma is proved even further when Orwell conveys “ No one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European women went through the bazaars alone somebody would spit betel juice over their dress”.

During this time period the Burmese didn’t have the power to revolt because the British were restraining them, but little acts like spitting betel juice on a british women proved the hatred they harbored for them. This correlates to the elephant who hated being chained up by his owner. The relationship between British Burma and England was very similar to the relationship of the elephant and his owner. George Orwell write “[ the elephant’s] mahout, the only person who could manage [the elephant] when it was [must], had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong direction and was now twelve hours away” (paragraph 3). British Burma’s independence happened two years after WWI, in which England was away fighting. The only one to “manage” British Burma was England. When they sent most of their troops from the materialized nations to go and fight in WWI, their reigns over the colonial nations loosened. This allowed Burma to break their chains and fight for their