Rhetorical Analysis of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell, a journalist and an author of 1903 through 1950, is not only the author of “Shooting an Elephant,” but surprisingly, he is also the narrator and the main character. Orwell’s narrative essay of 1936 takes place in squalid, British-occupied Moulmein, lower Burma. To begin, in the opening of his piece, Orwell describes himself as a young, British police officer who, ironically, despises the British imperial project in Burma
“Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant”: Effect of Imperialism in Burma Imperialism is a state of mind, fueled by the arrogance of superiority that could be adopted by any nation irrespective of its geographical location in the world. 1. Evidence of the existence of empires dates back to the dawn of written history in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, where local leaders extended their realms by conquering other states and holding them, when possible, in a state of subjection and semi subjection. Imperialism was
English 1301 02 December 2014 Shooting an Elephant In George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell recites a personal experience in which he shoots and kills an elephant while working as a British police officer in the British colony of Burma. While his actions were legally justifiable, Orwell describes his feelings of guilt for his true intentions and rationale for the killing, which he admits to himself as unnecessary and unjust. In slaying the elephant Orwell acts contrary to his own fundamental
author of Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell, describes his moral troubles as a police officer in Moulmein in lower Burma (known as Myanmar in the twenty-first century) when encouraged by its citizens to kill a rogue elephant in town. Orwell details how nearly every citizen in Moulmein had a grudge against Europeans, and would, as a result, antagonize any European in the town. Orwell was a sub-divisional European police officer and had a particularly difficult time in Moulmein. Orwell explains one
Society is what pushed the narrator in George Orwell’s “shooting an elephant” to shoot the elephant. He should have not followed society and formed his own individual opinion. “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking like a fool” (Orwell 139). He was more preoccupied with what the natives thought of him then doing what was morally correct. He did not do what was ethically correct and just leave the elephant alone and wait for the owner. The societal
States (407). About eighty years later in 1936, George Orwell wrote “Shooting an Elephant” (307). In the essay, Orwell described a memorable experience of his time as an officer in imperialist Burma.
The area of focus I chose was a work from the Innocence and Experience chapter. The work of fiction that I chose to analyze is “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell. The main question is whether what he did in the story was ethical. This story is about the inner fight between right and wrong, “if I do this…” or “if I do that…” or “what if I don’t do anything?” Bottom line is you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. We all do this in some form or fashion, we all have that inner voice telling
Kylie Murphy Professor Wilson WR 122 5 February 2015 Analysis Essay George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a story about the experience of the narrator who was asked to shoot a wild elephant. He was a police officer who worked for British imperialists and killing the elephant would help him receive good judgement from the villagers in Burma. Orwell says that imperialism is evil and should be eliminated while others think that it is good for the public. The purpose of Orwell’s story
forced to make can have long-lasting effects on them. In "Shooting an Elephant," by George Orwell, the author goes back to a situation in his life when he was a young adult where he had to make a choice between evil deeds. Many years later, the decision still haunted him. It takes place back when Orwell was a British police officer in Burma. He reevaluates his situation in life when he encounters a moral dilemma; to kill or save an elephant. Orwell is a confused and unhappy young policeman who lives in
"Shooting an Elephant" is an essay by George Orwell, first published in the literary magazine New Writing in the autumn of 1936 and broadcast by the BBC Home Service on October 12, 1948. The essay describes the experience of the English narrator, possibly Orwell himself, called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer in Burma. Because the locals expect him to do the job, he does so against his better judgment, his anguish increased by the elephant 's slow and painful