George Orwell Shooting An Elephant Summary

After shooting the elephant, Orwell writes, “Finally I fired my two remaining shots into the spot where I thought his heart must be. The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet, but he still did not die”(p. 12). The imagery Orwell creates of the elephant’s slow and tortuous death connects to the turmoil he is undergoing. Orwell explains his anguish when he inscribes, “I did not want to shoot the elephant…it seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him”(p. 8) Orwell goes through the agony of going against everything he believes in just to maintain his power over the Burmese. Ultimately, he comes to the conclusion that there is no other choice, but to shoot the elephant explaining, “my whole life, every white man's life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at”(p. 7) He loses his freedom then his dignity. The build up of his indescribable hatred towards both the British and the Burmese causes Orwell to make a decision that goes against his morals. This rash decision-making is no different from the government. The hastiness is created from the social pressure of the conquered (Burmese). This creates a power struggle between the two, conqueror and the conquered. Authority then goes against their beliefs to maintain dominance. Orwell explains as so, “A sahib has got to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things”(p.7) Ultimately, governments

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.

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

Since the elephant was no longer a threat, there is no need to shoot it. The elephant should have been left alone in the field until its owner came to claim him.

The white man’s burden is an idea that the white men have a job to take care of the uncivilized beings and develop them to be a more socially endowed race. Their belief that they are superior to the natives is where this is rooted. This idea excused racism and portrayed it as more of a positive element in our society, rather than the destructive mechanism that it actually is. It also caused white men to truly believe that they are better than any other race out there. In “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, the narrator’s brain is subconsciously imbedded with this notion. He claims to be opposed to imperialism and everything about it while also hating his job and the people associated with it. These two things cannot go hand in hand.

In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the officer experiences internal and external pressure to shoot an elephant unwillingly. In the story, an Imperial British officer goes after an elephant causing a disturbance in a village of Burma. Despite having no intention to harm the elephant, he begins to conflict with the internal pressure of going against his own morals to please the Burmese people; externally dealing with the pressure of the Burmese crowd and the duties of his imperial job. Ultimately, he succumbs to pressure and shoots the elephant against his intentions. As the officer encounters the elephant face to face he decides he will not kill the animal. His attitude is clear from the start as “ I had no intention of shooting the

The first and primary reason for George Orwell shooting the elephant is simply Orwell being afraid. He was originally not intending to shoot the elephant; he merely brought the rifle for his own protection. “I had no intention of shooting the elephant – I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary – and it is always unnerving to have a crowd following you. I marched down the hill, looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my shoulder

Orwell next faces the moral dilemma of whether or not to shoot the elephant. At first, it is clear that he does not feel the internal urge to shoot the elephant: "It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him" (Orwell.525). However, Orwell's virtue becomes dwarfed as the Burmese's "two thousand wills [press him] forward"(524) to kill the elephant. At this point there is an obvious role reversal as the Burmese begin to strongly influence Orwells decisions. Because he constantly dwells on what the crowd will think of him he shoots the elephant. Thus submitting to the will of the people and committing the immoral deed of abandoning ones own conscious because of the pressure of others.

Earning respect from the villagers meant shooting the elephant, and not shooting the elephant; humiliation. This is the problem the narrator faced in the story Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. The narrator was already hated for being an English police officer by the locals in Burma. Any hatred he received could be resolved through the rampant elephant situation that arises, although, this was not an easy case to handle. However, the narrator takes it on in hopes of earning respect from the villagers. The narrator is faced with two different options and he may have not made the best decision. In the end, the narrator decides to shoot the elephant, but he should have let the elephant live because the elephant’s attack was over when he

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

K.Kapler 9-2-17 English 1A Lourie,Iven In the comparison of the story, “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, states about how he deals with being a ‘sub-division police officer’ (133). In a relative comparison with my last job as an Ice Cream Attendant. And how it relates by the experience we’ve both go through our daily lives. While we work at our jobs, we are given several duties to ensure that the people are completely happy and satisfied.

In “Shooting an Elephant” author George Orwell tells his story of the time that he single handily killed an elephant. The story starts with Orwell telling us how he was a petty anti-imperialist. He voices that he was a simple European police officer who had been hated by the Burman people. He tells of how the Burman people would get joy from the smallest suffering of a European. How he had been tripped on a football field and how it aggravated him to suffer such harsh judgement from the very people he sympathized for.

Who are we to defy the orders of our higher power? Are we allowed to stand up for what’s right and break the laws for our own beliefs or follow the rule of authority? Are we sheep’s who only do what we are told. Is that the same in Orwell’s case?

Shooting an Elephant Have you ever had one of those situations that make you wonder if you are doing the right, moral thing? In the essay Shooting an Elephant, Orwell had to make a very difficult decision on whether or not to shoot an elephant that was causing problem in a local village. Despite not wanting to shoot the elephant, Orwell shot the elephant because it had killed a man earlier that day and did not wait for the owner to return. I disagree with Orwell’s decision to shoot the elephant because, I feel that Orwell over looked the fact that the elephant could have been startled by an unknown source and, that the elephant could have been calmed back down.

George Orwell writes an autobiography story called Shooting an elephant, he wrote the story in 1936, 50 years into British rule. In this story George talks about how two values collide in conflict and he is forced to decide which one he values more. The two values that come into question are the value of the animal's life and the value of being accepted. The event that is forcing George Orwell to choose what value he has a stronger belief in is a must elephant that has tormented the village. He called for a gun in case he needed it for self defence, but he had no intentions to use the gun unless completely necessary, he even said, “I did not want to shoot the elephant”. Two thousand Burmans gathered around the streets for