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Summary and analysis of shooting an elephant
George orwell 1984 literary analysis essay
The essay "shooting an elephant
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In this article Orwell portrays the role of an caring, considerate man. Orwell grew up in a bias,anti semitic town which led to him becoming a sub-divisional officer. “As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear”, this statement justifies that Orwell make his life decisions upon what others think and feel towards him. Orwell felt that getting an authority job was the only way he would feel some type of importance In his life. On the journey of shooting the elephant there were many obstacles Orwell faced. In the midst of searching for the “must” elephant the town people chose to lead him in a loose duck chase. In which, some said they didn’t see the elephants,others said he went one way and most acted as if they didn’t know what was going on. “I had almost made up mind that the whole story was a pack or lies”, this statement argue that the people were …show more content…
Orwell has been through and seen things way worse than this, “(Never tell me, by the way, that the dead look peaceful. Most of the corpses i have seen looked devilish)”. After seeing the dead body orwell had already devoted himself to shoot the elephant. After receiving the rifle orwell had nearly more than two thousand people behind him ready to humiliate him. “With two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing — no, that was impossible”, this comment clearly states that orwell faces the people and his gut feeling by deciding rather to shoot the elephant or not. Orwell is saying that something had to be done or the town people will mock him and feel disappointed. Orwell picks up the hero card and starts acting as if he’s the hero and the town people his fans, but orwell know that they’re only doing it to watch him fail. Yet, orwell still continues to go along with the town people and follow as they
Throughout the story, Orwell described how he was heavily pressured by the Burmese into shooting an elephant, stating that he became "... an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind" (Capote 583). Through Orwell's diction it became known that Orwell was hated by the majority of his residing village since he upheld the position of a sub divisional police officer for the British Raj in colonial Burma. Orwell was driven to killing the animal out of desperation of the public dropping all forms of hatred towards him. Although killing the elephant was against his will, Orwell went through with the deed earning a new profound identity known as the elephant
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.
“One of the things Orwell bequeathed us was the adjective ‘Orwellian’…. It is a frightening word, generally applied to a society organized to crush and dehumanize the individual, sometimes signifying the alienation of that individual if he dares to rebel” (Lewis 13). George Orwell, the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, depicted the importance of the individual in society and the danger of too much community in his literature. Through his personal experiences, however, he explored the ideas of socialism and was torn between the individual and community ideals. In his literature and his past, Orwell spoke against movements that remove the individual, but still emphasized the importance of community. Thus, he advocated a need for balance between the two concepts.
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
The first text by George Orwell entitled, “Shooting an Elephant” shows how peer pressure greatly influenced him in making his final decision. While George made his way to where the elephant was spotted he stated, “I glanced round at the crowd that had followed me. I was an immense crowd, two thousand at the least and growing every minute.” (Orwell, Shooting an Elephant, page 1322) With two thousand people around wanting him to shoot and kill an “innocent looking” would be peer pressure to say the least. Orwell then states, “I did not want to shoot the elephant” (Orwell, Shooting an Elephant, page 1323) However, in the end, with the large crowd drooling over the excitement of seeing an elephant being shot, Orwell shot the elephant. Technically the elephant did go on a rampage, killing a man in the process, but now the elephant had calmed down. The reason the elephant was in suc...
He was doubtful “We began questioning the people as to where the elephant had gone, and, as usual, failed to get any definite information.” (pg.325) Without any concrete evidence or information regarding the supposed elephant, the writer begins to severely doubt its existences. “I had almost made up my mind that the whole story was a pack of lies.” (pg.327) After talking amongst the people, Orwell felt as if the presence of an elephant was a lie and maybe possibly even a trick. Another way he felt confliction was through the innocence of the elephant once he discovered the story was real. “I had no intention of shooting the elephant.” (pg.327) Even before he saw how calm and harmless the “beast” was, he didn’t want to shoot it, “The animal looked no more dangerous than a cow.” (pg.324) The elephant appears harmless, making Orwell think twice about shooting him. Just as quickly as he felt innocence, the writer felt determination as well. “They were watching me as if they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.” George Orwell realizes that at the moment, he is the source of the natives entertainment. All eyes are upon him as the crowd waits for him to make a decision. “I had to shoot an elephant, I committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle.” (pg.327) Here, the writer flips a switch completely and realizes he must shoot the elephant. He sees that because of his request for such a weapon, the crowd now expects it from him, so he does. George Orwell goes through mixed emotions of doubt, innocence, and determination, thus making him
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.
He is not well liked by the local people and states secretly that he is all for the Burman people, and that he opposes the British’s implications. During his time there, an elephant in ‘must’ starts rampaging through the colonization. There is not much responsibility Orwell undertakes until the elephant kills a man. At that point, he decides to pursue the elephant. After his tracking, he finds the elephant and notes that it was peacefully eating and had a sort of “grandmotherly air” with it. He does not feel the need to confront the elephant anymore, until he sees the locals waiting for him to take action. He reluctantly calls for a large rifle and shoots the now peaceful beast. The elephant does not die right away, and even after Orwell has fired multiple rounds into it, the animal continues to suffer in pain. Orwell cannot bare the sight of it, and walks away feeling as though he has just murdered such a gentle creature. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Orwell acted the way he did because he wanted to save face with the Burman people and with the Imperialists. He was acting in accordance to what he believed others would want him to do, and not thinking with his own conscious. He was carelessly and blindly following the chain of command, without a second
In “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell has conflicting problems concerning his position when it comes to shooting the elephant. Where Orwell was stationed at, in Burmese, he found himself being treated horribly by the Burmans because they didn’t welcome the British officers in their territory. One day, an elephant is in must and stomps around a village and terrorizes the villagers. Orwell has no ch...
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...
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.
The symbolic story in the Shooting an Elephant is an attack towards imperialism. Orwell presents the ironic truth that imperialism benefits neither the imperialist nor the countries they colonize. It is perhaps sad to see that men were once willing to buy in to the fraudulent and ephemeral glory that imperialism have offered. Hopefully, men have learned their lessons and no other animal will be sacrificed for men's greed.
...o the wrong spot cause the poor animal to die "very slowly and in great agony." In spite of Orwell putting "shot after shot into his heart and down his throat," the elephant lives thirty minutes after its "tortured gasps" force Orwell to leave. Many years later, Orwell still seems bothered by the fact that pride, not necessity, caused him to destroy the animal.
He describes, “I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro” (60). He is dealing with the internal conflicts of who he should align with: himself, the British, or the Burmese. If he were to acknowledge his beliefs and align with himself, he could be the start of an uprise. Surely, others would follow. He even confirms his “thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny” and says, “Ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you catch him off duty,” referring to the hatred of the English empire (58). By expressing his dislike for the British, Orwell is finally attempting to stand up for his beliefs. The fact that his character is unable to execute his beliefs, though, highlights him trying to not look foolish in the presence of others. Clearly, he is in an unbearable circle of self-deprecation and doubt. By the end of the narrative, Orwell’s character regrets his decision to shoot the elephant. This ultimately represents Orwell’s uncertainty as he goes through life. He, like all of us, is struggling to predict which path is the best for him to go down as he ventures through his existence. Because of this, his actions for shooting the elephant are justified. He is just trying to accomplish all that he can while simultaneously dealing with his own questions of identity. This allows Orwell to be seen as a humble individual who is just trying
Based on the two essays, George Orwell is a vivid writer who uses a unique point of view and strong themes of pride and role playing to convey his messages. His writings are easy to pick out because of the strengths of these messages. Just like politicians in government, people with power turn corrupt to stay in power and keep their reputations. Anyone who takes on power must be prepared to live with the consequences of his actions. Orwell knows this challenge well and conveys this principle in his writing. After all, his narration is based on real life experiences and not fictional fantasies.