George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

Orwell makes the point that officers under the British Empire make choices out of recklessness, fueled by impulse and not by reason. The situation is paradoxical; the people of Burma are without local power,

“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.

In George Orwell’s story ‘Shooting an Elephant’, insight is given into the life of an oppressor in the British Empire. Orwell, having undergone a significant personal experience, illustrates his experience of imperialism and the resounding effects is has on the ethical conduct and ideals of man, not only of the oppressed but also regarding the oppressor. Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’ attempts to convey the sacrifice of one’s morality in service of imperialism. Through the spread of the British Empire and the colonialization of the Burmese people, we view the overwhelming resentment that exists from the behaviour of the oppressed, uniquely through the eyes of an imperialist. As a result of this animosity, Orwell plays the role that is expected of him, he performs for his audience under the fear of humiliation despite his conflicting mentality.

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 values, principles and reasoning, by killing the animal, “solely to avoid looking a fool” (6). Orwell is faced with a Hamlet-like quandary, to shoot or not to shoot, that is the question. Orwell makes a decision to shoot the elephant while under perceived group pressure. Afterwards, Orwell is haunted by the incident and is deeply remorseful for not following his own fundamental values, principles, and best judgment by doing what he knew would be the right thing under the circumstances. However, Orwell does ultimately take responsibility for his moral misconduct. Orwell’s honest confessions seem clearly cathartic and he seems to make major strides toward mitigating his guilt regarding the incident that occurred many years earlier when he was a young man. In addition, Orwell is able to use his traumatic experience to address the evils of a much greater villain, imperialism.

Orwell’s perspective was that because the Burmese expected him to shoot the elephant, he had no other choice but to do so. His own ideals of how shooting the elephant was wrong were overcastted by the Burmese “media,” who urged him along and condoned the death of the elephant. It is not evident whether or not the natives were aware of their power over Orwell.

“I have already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing.” As an officer, he is exposed to the dirty work of his country’s empire, which, unbeknown to Orwell, was beginning to crumble. It is cruel and disgusting how the natives are treated. However, the treatment he receives from the natives gives him mixed emotions. Although he sympathizes with the natives, he also believes that there would be no greater joy than “to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts.” With the constant gibes of the natives, even with his authoritative role as an officer, he himself feels like a prisoner of the

As the story progressed Orwell begins to tell the story that he said, “gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism.” He was informed that an elephant had escaped from its home and was wreaking havoc in the town so he had to go and get the elephant under control. When he received the news Orwell had already made up his mind that he was not going to kill the elephant, but was going to try and scare it away. Once he arrives to the place that the elephant had last been seen, Orwell came across a man that had been attacked by the elephant. He went on to say that the man had not looked peaceful dead, as many people say the dead looked, and seeing this man dead slightly disturbed him. Seeing this dead man caused Orwell to get an elephant rifle.

George Orwell was born in colonial India but was educated in England. When Britain created and empire, Orwell had been working for the police of the British Army in the location of Burma. Orwell realized there was something wrong with certain ways of government and that their is cultural conflicts. “Convinced that human decency and common sense were the basis of a just society, the author repeatedly found himself in conflict with the ideological mass movements of his time, ranging from capitalism to fascism and communism”(Gale). With the realization of these things, Orwell based many of his stories off of cultural differences, and the negatives of different types of government. In George Orwell’s short story Shooting an Elephant, Orwell explains his bitter days of being a police officer in Burma. Shooting an Elephant explains three important messages Orwell learned while in Burma.

George Orwell is an internationally acclaimed author that has been praised for his awareness of social injustice and opposition to totalitarianism. Although in his later life he realized some of his previous misdeeds when Orwell was a young man he served as a police officer in a British controlled Burma. The Burmese people at the time were rightfully scornful towards the Europeans; this includes the young Orwell. The time that Orwell spent in Burma was not all wasted, as it inspired him to come up with a story that questions human morality.

The referee, a Burman, would look the other way and the crowd would yell with laughter. This happened more than once. The author claims the young Buddhist priests were the worst of the group. All this was perplexed for Orwell, but in his mind he believed imperialism was an evil thing. The author understood how the Burmese felt and was against the British's subjugation ways (Orwell, 1996). His form of writing allowed his voice to come right out of the page to the reader. There is one part of Orwell's mind that visualize British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny and another part in his mind where the greatest joy in the world would be Orwell driving a bayonet into a Buddhist priests' guts (Orwell, 1996). The author's thoughts pull the reader into his mindset and dilemma of his world. Orwell receives a telephone call from a Burmese sub-inspector that an elephant was ravaging the bazaar. He took a .44 Winchester, which too small to kill an elephant, and a pony. The author's intention is to use the gun to make a noise to deter the animal. Orwell explained the description of the quarter and explained to reader the weather conditions of the area, "cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginning of the rains" (Orwell, 1996, pp. 144). He asked the whereabouts of the elephant but receives vague answers. He noticed an old woman shooing away a group of naked children. The author mentioned to the reader the children were naked. This imagery help the reader see that the poverty

Orwell illustrates, again, the evil of imperialism, this time while he goes to hunt the elephant. The evil of imperialism is exemplified when he mentions “despotic governments” showing that they have complete control and power. Additionally, when he discusses the “bazaar” it helps symbolize the Burmese economy. The “elephant had suddenly reappeared in the town” and “the Burmese population had no weapons” helps symbolize the elephant being the British empire is stronger compared to the Burmese. Another detail that helps illustrate the evil of imperialism is when he mentions that the British had “destroyed somebody's bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some fruit-stalls” showing that the British will do anything from burning villages to oppressing natural resources to colonize the country of Burma. Orwell continues by mentioning “man's dead body sprawling in the mud” which symbolizes the Burmese that have been oppressed. In addition, oppression is symbolized when Orwell mentions “put its foot on his back and ground him into the earth” showing the poverty the Burmese have to suffer through. Orwell’s use of the word “crucified” helps reveal the virtuous

George Orwell’s anecdote of “Shooting an Elephant” from 1936 was written for a literary magazine to inform British citizens of the struggles he experienced while working his restricting job, and begins with him dwelling on the concept that he is alone, and the only company he has is the pressuring wills of the 2,000 Indians watching him handle a rifle. He continually arguing against himself on whether or not to shoot the elephant, but the tyrannical British government he works for has placed him alone as a policeman in India with no one to agree with and talk him into doing what Orwell believes to be the best choice, leaving him with the pressure to adhere to 2,000 Indians’ desires that comply with British laws, resulting in his obedience. The ease of this for the despotic British government motivates them to pursue this act of control.

The elephant, in this case, represents imperialism. Orwell, being in the middle of imperialism and the Burmese people, does not want to destroy imperialism in the first place even though he did not like the way it treated the innocent Burmese people. However, seeing the elephant destroying Burmese’s homes and lives, he finally realizes what imperialism had done to the people of Burma. The Indian man who died represents the fact that Burmese people were defenseless against the British; they were poor and had neither the strength nor “the gut to raise a riot” (1) against imperialism regardless of how much they hated it. Even though he does not destroy imperialism like the way he did to the elephant, he believed that it would be destroyed one day for the evil things that it has done. As illustrated by Orwell, the people of Burma, in killing the elephant, paint the picture for how they wanted imperialism to be killed. His reason for killing the elephant to look good in front of the crowd is simply an excuse for wanting to overturn

In “shooting an elephant” George Orwell describes his experience as a police officer in Burma at the time colonialization. Orwell narrates a story when he had to kill an elephant because Orwell did not want to feel inferior in front of Burmese people. Also, Orwell’s encounter with the wild elephant insight him into the true nature of the imperialism. Moreover, Orwell, in “shooting an elephant”, uses elephant as a symbol of the British Empire. He explains the effects of British Empire on the people of Burma by mentioning the damage done by elephant, and by using the death of the elephant.

George Orwell was born in colonial India but was educated in England. When Britain created and empire, Orwell had been working for the police of the British Army in the location of Burma. Orwell realized there was something wrong with certain ways of government and that their is cultural conflicts. “Convinced that human decency and common sense were the basis of a just society, the author repeatedly found himself in conflict with the ideological mass movements of his time, ranging from capitalism to fascism and communism”(Gale). With the realization of these things, Orwell based many of his stories off of cultural differences, and the negatives of different types of government. In George Orwell’s short story Shooting an Elephant, Orwell explains his bitter days of being a police officer in Burma. Shooting an Elephant explains three important messages Orwell learned while in Burma.