A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator and the citizens only have a few rights and fear the government refers to despotic governments. At time the governments act from the same petty impulses such as those that drive human beings in response to pressures. In paragraph 3 of “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell implies this when he says that the incident of shooting the elephant “in a roundabout way was enlightening. It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had before of the real nature of Imperialism - the real motive for which despotic governments act.” The government's responsibility is to ensure that its citizen's physiological needs and safety are met. But, at times the government acts out with petty impulses in response to pressure, just as human beings do at times, caused by all of the responsibility they have. Which causes the government to rule as tyrant which resulted from the petty impulses.
Burma was a free kingdom until the British came and imperialized
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K. Gandhi also conveys how governments at times act out of petty impulses which are seen when he appeals to logos, by providing facts, when he writes, “A very stringent enactment was passed in the Transvaal in 1885...Indians might not walk on public footpaths, and might not move out of doors after 9 p.m. without a permit”(Gandhi, 119). A law was made that all Indians had to pay a poll tax of $3 as fee for entry in the Transvaal, also another law was made that didn’t allow Indians to be outside their homes after 9 p.m. without a permit, from a person they worked for. This explicates despotic government acting from petty impulses by being unfair towards the Indians while they live in South Africa. The despotic government was creating laws to be unfair towards Indians, to control them. Thus, proving how despotic governments act out of petty impulses which result in a negative impact towards the
Rather, it contends that when government is unrestrained in the form of totalitarianism, as exemplified by the Party of Oceania, it can by nature exist only to serve itself. This argument serves as Orwell’s warning against the dangers of totalitarianism; it is so corrupting a force that it can hide behind claims of good intentions, but ultimately exists only to accumulate its own power. Furthermore, since a totalitarian drive for power constitutes a total control of its citizenry and a political structure that necessitates its existence, as shown by the military strategy of the Party, Orwell warns that once a truly totalitarian state is in place, there is no possible way to overthrow it or turn back from it. Ultimately, Orwell sees a government that is so distorted it has become completely self-serving as the largest threat, defining his view of totalitarianism and the themes of his
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” Revolutionary Thomas Paine describes the government, which may seem evil at times, as a necessity for becoming a functioning society. A lot of responsibility is entrusted onto today’s government to create a safe, law based environment in which everyone can live and prosper. Although without the structure of a government to create laws and have the authority to enforce them, society itself would become chaotic. If a strong government ever became corrupt, it would have the ability to keep control on society by creating laws that limit people’s free-will. This creates a dystopian society for every person living under that government.
George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a short story that not only shows cultural divides and how they affect our actions, but also how that cultural prejudice may also affect other parties, even if, in this story, that other party may only be an elephant. Orwell shows the play for power between the Burmese and the narrator, a white British police-officer. It shows the severe prejudice between the British who had claimed Burma, and the Burmese who held a deep resentment of the British occupation. Three messages, or three themes, from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” are prejudice, cultural divide, and power.
A totalitarian government is place that no person should ever be forced to live in because this type of government controls almost every aspect of its citizens’ lives. The dictators controlling these kinds of government’s take away people’s basic human rights, brainwash kids into showing no loyalty towards their families, and imprison or execute all who might be a remote threat to their party. The government then controls the remaining population with the fear of being arrested by secret state police regardless if they have committed, or planned to commit, a crime. The leaders of these societies have no regard for the wellbeing of anybody but themselves, and once they come to power, it is usually too late to stop what happens next.
The essay “Shooting an Elephant,” was written by George Orwell. Orwell was a British author best known for his essays and novels. In “Shooting an Elephant,” the title essay of his 1950 collection, Orwell is a British Police Officer in Lower Burma. After an elephant comes rampaging through the village in must, killing an Indian man, Orwell is looked upon to take care of the problem. The intense scene causes Orwell to make a crucial decision, reflecting on the vicious imperialism with the military in Burma during this time. The author portrays his feelings through the theme of the narrative with feelings such as, guilt, hate, and pressured.
After the Industrial Revolution, the act of stronger countries taking control of weaker countries became a common practice of colonization or Imperialism. When one think of “Imperialism” they might think of the country and the people that have been taken over. Their resources are being taken, their people are being mistreated so of course people will feel bad for the conquered countries. What people don't know is that imperialism is a double edge sword. In the story “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, we are shown Orwell's view on British's Imperialism, though the British empire found use in Imperialism, Orwell found faults and that it hurts the conqueror as much as it hurts the conquered.
A police officer in the British Raj, the supposedly 'unbreakable'; ruling force, was afraid. With his gun aimed at a elephant's head, he was faced with the decision to pull the trigger. That officer was George Orwell, and he writes about his experience in his short story, 'Shooting an Elephant';. To save face, he shrugged it off as his desire to 'avoid looking the fool'; (George Orwell, 283). In truth, the atmosphere of fear and pressure overwhelmed him. His inner struggle over the guilt of being involved in the subjugation of a people added to this strain, and he made a decision he would later regret enough to write this story.
Totalitarian governments rule with absolute power. Everything from the press to individual action is controlled and manipulated by the government. A perfect example of a totalitarian government can be found in George Orwell’s novel 1984. In the super state Oceania, the war, history, and thoughts are controlled by the use of fear and pain to insure the Party’s dominion over the state. By using a totalitarian government, George Orwell explores the power of fear and pain over the rebellious through the development of the character of Winston Smith.
To begin with, one must find a peaceful approach to defeat discrimination. According to the text, on “from Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin”, Gandhi stated “My ambition is no less than to convert the British through non-violence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India.” This evidence shows that Gandhi wants to be heard without using violence. Another example is on lines 17-24 which says “It has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation…reduced politically to serfdom…sapped foundations of our culture…degraded us spiritually.” This evidence reveals that Gandhi is showing the effect the British is having a right now in India.
My stance in my propaganda proposal is to stop Elephant Poaching. Elephant poaching is when elephants are killed because “poachers” want the ivory from the elephant’s tusks. A perfectly healthy elephant will be violently killed for the unacceptable reason of valuable ivory. What is the difference of murdering an innocent animal, than killing an innocent human-being? This is not only cruel, but these animals are being unfairly slaughtered.
There are so many reason why poaching is a concern, so I am going to come up with idea to stop the poaching. Poaching is a vast and continuous thing that happen everywhere, but m prime concern is the poaching of elephants. We could put more sanctuaries in Africa and other places, poaching hurts the elephant population. So we need to protect the elephants that are left, and what can we do to help the baby orphaned elephants put more sanctuaries in africa and other places.
From the beginning of the narrative “Shooting An Elephant,” George Orwell creates a character with a diminished sense of self. The character narrates, “I was hated by large numbers of people -- the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me” (Orwell, 58). All he wants is attention and it is evident that even negative attention is better than being ignored. He hates working for the British as a sub-divisional police officer in the town of Moulmein. He even makes it known to the audience that, “Theoretically -- and secretly, of course -- I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British” (58). The character knows he does not want to be in this position, as a Anglo-Indian
However, with great power comes great responsibility, and most governments that allow too much power will crack under the pressure and implant complete security to protect their power from being taken by another leader that is not their main choice, or by the public through revolution. A sensible country will not allow its government to achieve either, as both will affect the country significantly in a negative spotlight. However, balancing freedom and security doesn’t take away all the problems, as having the same amount of freedom and security is impossible in reality and will soon tip into either side, and having more security than freedom will make citizens protest outside and inside of the area of influence by the government, and the awareness created can lead to tragic aftermath. This is why having more freedom than security while allowing the government to regulate individual actions that can adversely affect others, as total security will lead to totalitarianism and tyranny, allowing more security over freedom will generate resentment, severe riot, and, total freedom will lead to chaos and anarchy. Everyone wants power in one way or another, no matter if it is used for good, bad, or in-between.... ...
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 another scene, Gandhi is in jail, and some of his followers are peacefully gathered in a square. The police lock up the square and kill almost everyone, over 1,500 people. Gandhi is disgusted and discouraged. He continues to preach non-violence, but the Indians do have occasional conflict with the police. Gandhi’s counter to the popular phrase “an eye for an eye” says that after that, “everyone will be blind.” Gandhi leads several organized protests against British rule. In one, all Indians stopped doing their work, and the major cities in the country were disabled. Another time, he led a 165-mile walk to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt. The Indians made their own salt out of the sea.