Example Of Historiografiction In Literature

Orwell writes, “If the elephant charged and I missed him, I should have about as much chance as a toad under a steam-roller.” (3). Orwell’s use of the phrase adds to the dramatic humor of the situation, and creates a better understanding of his conflicting opinions on his situation. Preceding this statement is an internal argument within which Orwell debates whether he should shoot the elephant or not. To connect this statement back to the symbol of the elephant representing imperialism it shows that if he were to go against the European imperialist he would surely lose everything he had and possibly his life depending on the person, but right after the quote above Orwell writes about not thinking particularly of his own skin but of the natives behind him. Meaning he wasn’t thinking so much about saving himself but rather saving those around him. “He was breathing very rhythmically with long rattling gasps, his great mound of a side painfully rising and falling” (4), this quote within it’s self is a metaphor as well as imagery. It is a metaphor for how imperialists may be overthrown but influences can never be forgotten, through this it gives us a better understanding a picture of the scene and Orwell's feelings during this

In this situation, the elephant represents the colonization of the British in Burma. Since the elephant has its’ liberty restricted the end result: the elephant is violent and rebels in response to being shackled. The elephant showcases the rejection of imperialism through the narrator's feelings. Orwell’s attitude affects his job because when he was called to take care of the elephant incident, he does not take a standpoint on either the people or the

George Orwell began the essay with his perspective on British domination. He stated that it is evil and alongside of that it is oppressive. He felt hatred and guilt toward himself and the Burmese people. The people of Burma did not feel threatened because the narrator of the story had killed the elephant. The Burmese people have lost their dignity and integrity while trying to fight off the British imperialism. Orwell uses allegories to describe his experience of the British imperialism and he had his own view of the matter of slaying the elephant. He successfully used ethos, pathos, and logos by attracting the audience to read his story. He had to make a scene in the story to make the people of Burma feel the same emotion. The elephant was the one reason why it makes this story emotional. He used logos to show that he can kill the elephant even if he does not want to so that it does not make him look fool.

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.

Orwell?s extraordinary style is never displayed better than through the metaphors he uses in this essay. He expresses his conflicting views regarding imperialism through three examples of oppression: by his country, by the Burmese, and by himself on the Burmese. Oppression is shown by Orwell through the burden of servitude placed upon him by England: Orwell himself, against his will, has oppressed many. British Imperialism dominated not only Burma, but also other countries that did not belong to England. At the time it may appear, from the outside, he shows us that the officers were helping the Burmese because they too were against oppressors; however, from the inside he demonstrates that they too were trying to annex other countries. Though Orwell?s handling of this subject is detailed, in the end, he subtly condemns imperialism. Orwell finds himself in a moral predicament no different than the ones placed on the white men in the East. He justifies his actions, driven by the instigation of the Burmese. Orwell also feels forced by the natives to kill the elephant, hindering his

A renowned novelist and former imperial policeman, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant (1936), addresses the problems of imperialism. He argues that imperializing others, specifically Burma, will force the colonists to lose their own conscience and freedom. Orwell utilizes a variety of rhetorical elements throughout his essay to help bolster his claim. Firstly, Orwell uses first person perspective to showcase his experiences in order to establish his credibility. He then uses word choice to indicate his imperialistic sentiments and emotions. Lastly, he uses imagery to portray the pressure and emotions that were elicited while shooting the elephant. The purpose of Orwell’s essay Shooting an Elephant is to inform the reader about the inherent struggles that are engendered by imperialism. Orwell adopts a critical, subjective tone for his audience, the readers of his essay, anti-imperialists, and scholars studying imperialism.

The essay “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell is about a particular day the narrator was living in British occupied Burma. The author tells about an event that still bothers him, in which he had a choice in whether or not to shoot and kill an elephant. The episode seems to still haunt him years later. The author seemed to write the essay in part to help himself cope with the act that he had committed. By his own admission, the narrator divulges that he does not share the same beliefs as the powerful government that he represents.

The traditional European viewpoint, one held by the majority of his audience, is greatly questioned and its ethics are challenged by juxtaposing it to the repulsive details of the murder of this poor elephant. This also helps him develop a sense of ambivalence as Orwell is conflicted between his original European ideals, but after being introduced to the damage and horror that viewpoint can cause, he is consistently shown to possess a mixed attitude to his actions. The clever antithesis here of both the positives and negatives of imperialist actions helps develop a further consequential idea in the minds of his readers about the morals of human nature. It essentially emphasizes how confused he is about what is right and what is wrong and how social

To help voice Orwell’s anti-imperialistic views, the elephant could symbolize many things, however, three stand out. The British Empire was one of the largest in the history of mankind. It stood for hundreds of years and still lingers today. The nation held an immense amount of land, resources, and people under its fist by use of an overwhelmingly

First he points out the hatred it brings upon innocent people. Secondly, he talks about peer pressure and its effects on people. Lastly, he talks about how cruel it was for the people being ruled and how selfish the people were that were ruling. Orwells first messages from the story Shooting an Elephant, is the hatred that it makes

His essay reflected/consisted of Orwell as a young soldier trying to solve an over bearing conflict in which he had to chose between shooting the elephant, which represented Britain’s rule/imperialism or walk away and do nothing to help the Burmese people. In “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell has an Orwell demonstrates this by stating that the reason he shot the elephant was because of the pressure he felt, caused by his Western power figure; everyone

George Orwell was an iconic author, novelist, and essayist known by his opposition to both social injustice and totalitarianism. In his essay “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell writes about an event that opened his eyes to the societal dangers of imperialism and the social injustices therein. Orwell begins by explaining his position as a sub-divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. He goes on to explain that the British are hated by the village natives, and it is a common practice for natives to mistreat them. Orwell expresses that he recognizes the evil of imperialism, hates his job, and does not believe in the oppression of the Burmese. While on duty, Orwell receives word of an elephant that had broken

Orwell will be put in a circumstance that he does not want to be in. He knows deep down that shooting the elephant is wrong. It is not something he wants to do. An elephant is an expensive, huge piece of machinery and can do amazing work. In this moment of pressure of deciding what to do, Orwell wants to pretend that he doesn’t care what the natives think, but it is extremely evident that he does. However, the moment he is worried about what they think, allows these citizens power which is exactly what Orwell doesn’t want to give them. Through feeling the peer pressure of the natives, Orwell shoots the elephant, knowing that it is not the right thing to do. The reading shows this as it rea ds, “It is the condition of his rile that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the natives, and so in every crisis he has got to do what the natives expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had to shoot the elephant…with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing-no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me.” Peer pressure only works because humans allow it to work through fear of getting humiliated. This statement ties right into the next theme of the

What he didn’t expect were the hundreds of natives following him due to their want to watch Orwell shoot the elephant as if it were a special show displayed only once in a lifetime. However, as it is repeated multiple times in the story, Orwell had no intentions of shooting the innocent elephant. Orwell felt pressured from the two thousand natives and their searing expectations, and against his own will, he shot the elephant until it could no longer stand and left it as it was to bleed out. After the fact, Orwell perceived a form of enlightenment through this experience in terms of what imperialism has turned the “white man” into. From the text, he states, “...when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. …. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the ‘natives’” (Orwell). As the white man turns tyrant, which means acting as a cruel and oppressive ruler, he binds himself as a “sahib”, a master or lord, and creates a mask which he must always wear, and in turn, destroys his own freedom as an individual. In the end, Orwell came to a realization, that this higher “rule” the white man intakes, becomes the chains that confine him to the expectations of the “natives”. This then brought Orwell to “a better glimpse” than what he originally perceived imperialism as, on the motives for which tyrant

. By the type of language and the choice of words that the author used to write his essay, it is very likely that it was written for the British people, to make them aware of the injustice and cruelty of Imperialism in the colonies. The author’s aim is to make the reader feel disturbed and uneasy by describing in detail his negative experiences in India. This rhetorical analysis explores the success of the author in portraying the negative impact that Imperialism had on those being governed under it, but also on the impact on those in power. The way Orwell used the words for describing the scene of shooting the elephant, his aim was to get the reader’s mind to understand the injustice of Britain’s rule over the natives. While Shooting an