George Orwell Shooting An Elephant Analysis

The story, written in first person, gives insight of the narrator’s thought process. It is well conveyed that Orwell is very unhappy with his current position and is working for something he doesn’t believe in, which allows his audience to feel sympathetic to his current situation. His dilemma is clearly presented- whether he should shoot the elephant or not- which provides a universal theme of a personal battle, to choose what one believes is right, or whether to conform with society. Ultimately, this provides an emotional connection between Orwell and the reader, as they can relate to the feeling, which gives them a better understanding of the story’s main point. The shooting of the elephant itself also provokes an emotional response from the audience, as Orwell employs the element of death in a powerful and symbolic way. It is well persuaded throughout the story that he believed the elephant did not deserve to die, and the death itself is portrayed as devastating to him..” (Orwell, 5). The remorseful tone in this ending sentence exposes to the audience that just because something appears to be socially acceptable does not mean in any way that it is right for us to do, in which this case, the guilt exposed to the reader illustrates the negative consequences of social

I was chill by the way Orwell described the elephant’s agony in this essay. The detailed description of how much the animal suffered seemed very cruel. however, by looking it from Orwell’s side, I could perceive a conflicted individual who had a mental and emotional struggle. He described himself a young and inexperienced man who had so much hate for the British government. Sadly, he did what he thought was the right thing to do at that moment even though he had the chance of walking away from the situation, but he was the only armed person and the fact a multitude of people surrounded him produced a peer-pressure on him. the reaction was certainly the detonator that caused this tragic

Upon seeing the rifle, a huge crowd started to follow him. He had no intention to kill the elephant. However, the crowd was expecting him to shoot it. They did not want to kill it because it had destroyed the bazaar, but rather to enjoy the fun and to get the elephant meat. The crowd’s expectation leaves Orwell no choice but to shoot the elephant. He points out that he had to shoot it to “impress the ‘natives’” (7). If he had not done it, the crowd would have laugh at him, and it would hurt his pride as a white man living in the East. In the end, he decided to trigger the gun and shot the elephant.

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.

THESIS: Although Orwell is justified, legally shooting the elephant is wrong because, the elephants “must” period was over, the way the animal was shot caused the animal to suffer, and Orwell violated his own beliefs because of peer pressure.

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

Orwell is a very descriptive writer who emphasizes a different moral in every essay. He is not simply describing an elephant shooting or a hanging; he is trying to make readers listen to his messages. One of the messages that Orwell wants his readers to understand is the power that role playing has on the human mind. Orwell demonstrates this theme quite easily in both essays. Before killing the elephant, Orwell states, “I had got to shoot the elephant. I had committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act like a sahib…”(Orwell: Shooting an Elephant). This statement illustrates how people with power must live up to their expectations to keep that power. He knows he has the power to kill the animal, so he makes himself fit the role of a killer. Power can affect the way people act. A modern day example of this is shown when gang members act on thoughts of the group to gain acceptance by other members. The acceptance gives them power and this is a universal idea that Orwell focuses on. Orwell also stresses power to describe human nature. Orwell likes to use this in both essays because it explains the inconsistency that humans have when power takes over. This is one of Orwell’s morals he stresses to his audience to make them realize the poor decisions people make when in power.

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

Never Forgotten. The Essay “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell shows that colonialism is an inhumane thing. “Shooting an Elephant” takes place during the colonialism of Burma by the British. During this event George Orwell had an encounter with an elephant that was terrorizing the village, George Orwell was peer pressured into shooting that elephant.

Orwell’s charitable reasoning makes it seem as though his high-born instinct may yet prevail. Unfortunately, his desire not to be humiliated by the villagers and the fact that he is more afraid of humiliation and perhaps how it might influence the local's sense of Orwell as an authoritarian figure triumphs over his humane side. It is clear that the pressure of the crowd makes Orwell feel compelled to perform a particular inhumane and illogical role. In spite of his well thought out self analysis, he cannot combat the duties that his role as an officer that he must make in order to display his authorization.The part in where Orwell describes the elephant’s physical suffering when having been shot is the most agonizing part ,and in this specific

The entire essay revolves around the death of the elephant, which itself is a metaphor for the decline of the British rule in Burma at that time. He also uses numerous literary techniques to convey the emotion and situational irony of the entire scene of shooting the elephant, which ultimately leads to a satirical presentation of imperialism (Yeasmin). For example, Orwell felt helpless as he was forced to go after the elephant due to the sudden interest of the townspeople and not because he thought it was his duty to. This helplessness is displayed through the metaphorical expression “I marched down the hill, looking and feeling like a fool” (3) and also through the metaphor “an absurd puppet” (3), where the writer compares himself to a ridiculously helpless puppet. Another metaphor the writer uses is when he states that “I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly” (3).

George Orwell is well-known for his controversial works of literature that analyze human nature and society as a whole. “Throughout Orwell's early novels, journals, and essays, democratic socialism existed as a sustaining vision that kept the author from total despair of the human condition” (Greenblatt) Orwell lived in a time of rapid expansion for the British Empire, and he was a sub-divisional police officer in Burma, despite his vocal issues with imperialism. George Orwell disliked the policy of imperialism and wished to get his time as a police officer over with as soon as he could. In Shooting the Elephant, Orwell discusses how peer pressure made him kill an elephant that may have not been a danger.

In this novel Orwell effectively uses 1st person point of view to show the mental change the narrator underwent throughout the course of the story. By the reader having such an in depth point of view in this novel, you are able to see the reasoning and logic that leads to this change in the narrator's ideology. In the beginning when the narrator went to get his rifle he states, “ I took my rifle, an old 44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might be useful in terrorem”(Orwell 571). By the narrator stating this in the beginning, it shows he truly did not want to harm the elephant. Also from the statements, “ I had no intention of shooting the elephant, I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary”(Orwell 573) and, “As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him”(Orwell 573), the reader is able to tell initially he had no intention of harming the animal, but was overcame by peer pressure. The point of view is effective in showing this, because in first

. 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

Orwell abandons his morals and kills the elephant to garner the approval of the Burmans. He feels compelled to shoot the animal because the Burmans "did not like me, but with the magical rifle in