A Modest Proposal And Shooting An Elephant

The entire proposal stands as a satire in itself; an analogy paralleling the tyrannical attitude of the British toward their Irish

“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell, first published in the journal New Writing in 1936. In this essay, the author tells his own story about when he was working as a police officer for the Indian Imperial Police in Burma.

He repeats over and again that he did not want to shoot the elephant. He confesses, “It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him. I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to.” Orwell gives emotional reasons for being against the idea of shooting the animal and not rational. He generalizes all elephants to have a “preoccupied grandmotherly air” and compares the elephant to a cow. The writer uses the simile, “They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.” to explain the pressure he had from the crowd watching him. Orwell remarks that regardless of his decision to shoot the elephant, he cannot change the thinking of the public about him. Orwell was moved by the hefty crowd that followed him. He was left with no choice other than to shoot the elephant because that was what the crowd expected of him and this scene signifies the failure of imperialism which is the writer’s overall theme. The sentence, “I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East.” helps explain to the reader the real failure of imperialism. Orwell insists that although the white man in the East has power which is symbolized by the rifle, he is still not allowed to make use of it in accordance with his will. He is classifying imperialism as a hollow and futile way of governance. The Englishmen

“Shooting an Elephant” is a short anecdote written by George Orwell. The story depicts a young man, Orwell, who has to decide whether to bend the rules for his superiors or to follow his own path. George Orwell works as the sub-divisional police officer of Moulmein, a town in the British colony of Burma. He, along with the rest of the English military are disrespected by the Burmese due to the English invading their territory and taking over. Over time, Orwell, the narrator, has already begun to question the presence of the British in the Far East. He states, theoretically and secretly, he was “all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” Orwell describes himself as “young and ill-educated,” bitterly hating his job. Orwell uses powerful imagery and diction to convey a depressing and sadistic tone to the story. At the end of the story, he faces a dilemma: to kill the elephant or not.

When presenting the Irish population in the given time period, Connell uses estimates based on the returns of heath-money collectors between 1725-1791 and official census data for the remaining time frame. After correction for errors in these estimates, the figures show a significant increase in population growth rate starting in 1780’s (p.278).

George Orwell who wrote a narrative essay Shooting an Elephant” has a tense tone of literature towards his life. He is using a stressed tone due to peer pressure, and lack of confidence toward himself as he is an imperialist who came to protect uphold the laws. He's difficult attitude sets the scene for the story in his eyes. Throughout the story the concept of his decisions and action will be projected through the uses of diction; the write words to express his feelings.

Imperialism- a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

When a country feels superior to another and decides to take it over, that is called imperialism. Imperialism was occurring through a major part of the late 1800s and early 1900s, mainly taking a toll on Africa. During imperialism a country is able to gain government, trade, or the culture that has been adopted. The concept and action of imperialising can destroy many people's values and the their way of life for them personally. Imperialism was a selfish and negative concept towards certain cultural groups during the time of its reign.

Imperialism is the domination of one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country. Imperialism is more often than not fueled by two major schools of thought known as nationalism and Social Darwinism. Nationalism is a feeling of pride and devotion to one’s country. This can drive a person to think that their country is the most powerful, and in essence drives that person mad with power and a hunger to conquer, which not ironically is exactly what many countries did. Social Darwinism is the very idea that a more powerful country conquer the smaller countries. “Survival of the fittest,” as the well renowned Charles Darwin used to say. Imperialism is also sometimes sparked by military motives, such as when USA set up

George Orwell, author of, "Shooting an Elephant" gives detailed scenarios to help the audience discover different interpretations of his inner conflicts. He then connects his piece to historical events in India that involved the British empire, he does so by using symbolism in place of description in his story. Narration is used to aid in interpreting Orwell's inner conflicts throughout the story such as killing the elephant, his conflict with the Burmese people, and finally the imperialism Britain had over

In “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell achieves two achievements : he shows us his personal experience and his expression while he was in Burma; he use the metaphor of the elephant to explain to describe what Burma looked like when it was under the British Imperialism. The special about this essay is that Orwell tells us a story not only to see the experience that he had in Burma; he also perfectly uses the metaphor of the elephant to give us deep information about the Imperialism. By going through this essay, we can deeply understand what he thinks in his head. He successfully uses the word choices and the sentences to express his feeling. By reading this essay, Orwell succeeds us with his mesmerizing sentences and shows us the

“Shooting an elephant” and “A modest proposal” are two essays where expresses Orwell’s feelings directly, while Swift presents his feelings through a projector (one who forms schemes or designs) whose attitude is cold and unsympathetic. To begin with, there were be a comparison between the following essays: “Shooting an elephant” and “A modest proposal” and a summary of both essays. During the 1800’s, Great Britain fought several wars against Burma (Myanmar); hoping to secure a better trade route with China. In addition, Myanmar won their independence in 1948. On the other hand, “A Modest proposal” grows out of Swift’s furious indignation, his disgust with English oppression, and Irish corruption and stupidity. Furthermore, Ireland was under

During this essay I will compare the difference of economic and policy development of Ireland, north or south in relation to the United Kingdom. As of today Ireland themselves are bit more advanced, exchange secondary economy. Ireland was among the starting gathering of 12 EU countries that started streaming the euro on 1 January 2002 “Although Ireland had aspirations to become a member of the Community as far back as 1961 it was not until 1972 when a referendum confirmed Ireland’s entry into the European Community with 83 per cent of voters supporting membership. Ireland formally acceded to the then EEC in 1973”. (Loughran, 2015).

In a “Modest Proposal” Swift expresses his grief as well as irritation of Ireland’s politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English, and the degradation in which he witnesses the Irish people living. While Swift explains how England continuously exploits Ireland, he also expresses the utter disgust he finds in the inability of the Irish to help themselves. Swift mourns and shows compassion for the Irish people but critiques both for the issue at hand. (Sparknotes). Through this ironic essay of surprises and shocks, swift challenges the reader consider and critically analyze policies, motivation, and moral values. Jonathan Swift states in the essay that

During this time it is clear that many changes were occurring in Ireland, a land that was once dominated by tradition was now becoming a modernized country. Where then does