George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

Haley Collins Professor Henery English 100 February 17, 2016 Shooting an Elephant The essay “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell is set in time during the 1800’s when the country of Burma had been conquer and then controlled by the British. In “Shooting and Elephant,” the essay is illustrated through the eyes of a British Imperial Officer who undergoes a life-changing event that demonstrates the true effects Imperial control. In this essay Orwell describes the horrific killing of an elephant and the emotions and frustrations the Officer endures while deciding the initial fate of the animal.

“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.

and disrupting the little bit of peace that they have. So in that instant he

Imagine being placed in a situation that holds the fate of a breathing elephant, the largest land animal in the world. Would you spare its life or begin the end of it in a blink of an eye? In Eric Arthur Blair’s essay Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell, arguably Blair himself, was once confronted with this very question. As an English police officer in Burma during the Age of Imperialism, Orwell was called upon to investigate an aggressive elephant that was ravaging a local bazaar and later discovered, even killed a man. When he finally located the mammal, “at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow” (Orwell 2). Orwell’s immediate thoughts were that he ought not to shoot the creature “I had no intention of shooting the elephant--I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary” (2). However, Orwell’s initial thoughts would not be put into action. Orwell would later go on to kill the elephant with three shots aimed at the brain as over two thousand native people

Story is about a Burma village where an elephant got loose and wreaked havoc on the town and kills a villager (a man). George Orwell is the sheriff and ultimately makes the choice to kill the elephant.

People often do favors to please others, even if it means a loss of dignity. George Orwell’s short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, is an ideal example. In the story, Orwell, the main character, works as a policeman in Burma in the 1930s for the British Empire. One day, an elephant tramples loose, and although Orwell has no intent on shooting the elephant, a mob of native Burmese pressures Orwell to shoot the elephant. He reluctantly acquiesces to prevent being humiliated. After that experience, Orwell writes “Shooting an Elephant” to demonstrate native resentment of the British through mood, to reveal the tyranny of imperialism and its effects on the natives through imagery, and to informs the reality of the natives manipulating the British through foreboding diction. All of these purposes support Orwell’s ultimate purpose of ending imperialism and colonization.

Peer pressure is when someone gets encouraged to follow their peers by changing their attitude, values, or behavior to fit in with those of the influencing group or individual. Hughes and Orwell engage in the art of persuasion on the topic of peer pressure and how it can cause you to do things you may not believe in, and I find myself persuaded by their appeals because I share many of their audiences' characteristics. The main point in Salvation is to describe Hughes's experience of being saved which resulted in him being disappointed in himself and in Jesus. In addition, he lied to the church and felt guilty because of it. Being "saved" caused Hughes to lose faith in God which shows how pressure on a child who does not know what is going

In conclusion George Orwell essay “ Shooting An Elephant” expresses through his language that pride was something that pushed him to pull the trigger even though if it had been him alone he would have never pulled it.  He also showed  through his use of colour language and imagery the regret he feels for shooting the

If put in a situation where you were expected to do something you did not want to do, would you be able to do it? This situation occurs in “Shooting an Elephant” written by George Orwell. This story recounts the events Orwell faced during his time as an Imperial police officer in Burma, India. “Shooting an Elephant” focuses on a day where an elephant was causing mayhem in Burma. The elephant destroyed houses, food stands, and even killed a laborer while roaming the city.

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.

Through this grim tone, Orwell explains his encounter with a “must” elephant that has killed a man, and because of his crime, the Burmese locals request Orwell to shoot and kill the elephant. Describing the gruesome scene,

Throughout Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” he weaves his theory about the effects of imperialism. He explains how it effects not only the oppressed, but the oppressor as well. However, the essay captures a universal experience of going against one’s own humanity as a cost of a part of that humanity.

In George Orwell’s Shooting An Elephant, he compromises his belief on British imperialism and even his belief on shooting the elephant. It is implied in the essay that Orwell thinks that British imperialism is bad, and he compromises this belief by being a police officer for the advantage of the British in the country of Burma, now known as Myanmar. Likewise, he compromises his belief on what he should do about the elephant, and ultimately decides that he has to shoot it. “Has to shoot it.” I say this because the Burmese people do not like Orwell, and he wants to gain their trust and friendship, and get rid of the hate against him.

The essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell examines the truths behind British imperialism and colonialism by following the life of a British soldier stationed in Burma in the 1920s. The essay describes a situation where the Burmese people pressure a young soldier to take action and go against his own desires by exterminating an elephant that had previously raided and destroyed parts of a village and killed one of the Burmese. The soldier also describes his feelings of distaste towards the work that was being done in Burma. This event is when the soldier begins to realize that he is a puppet being played by both the British and the Burmese to do their dwelling. British imperialism is proved to be evil, resulting in the personal gain of the British

In George Orwell’s passage “Shooting an Elephant,” he is portrayed as a timid, yet a pressured British officer in the Burmese society. Orwell's position concerning human motives is based on his self-perseverance of living in an imperialistic country.