Through reading and writing literature we use our brains to think abstractly about, and dive deeper into, common ideas. On the surface, George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” tells the story of the struggle between those who rule and those who are ruled over, while personifying this struggle through the narrator and his internal struggle. I would argue that more can be taken from this essay and applied to make a lasting impact on the heart of a young person. We live in world where young adults are coming of age in a world where you express yourself in one-hundred-forty characters or less. Where peers are free to label each other as intolerant if they don’t share common views. Where the popular desire is not to be yourself, but to find a way to make yourself different. “Shooting an Elephant” has the power to give perspective on these destructive, and all too common, patterns of thought.
In the light of the explosion of social media, we are witnessing a generation that is increasingly unable to focus. Social media is quickly retraining the brains of its users with constant notifications and its conversion of conversations to only comments. Orwell’s essay is perfect for presenting to young people because of decreasing attention span of our youth. This essay is concrete and concise. Much of the focus on teaching literature surrounds novels and poetry, while this essay allows readers to discover a story through a different way. The length of the essay also needs to be considered
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.
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.
In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant” , written by George Orwell, the protagonist, the narrator, is faced with a conflict of shooting or letting the violent elephant live. The narrator is a British policeman who is made fun of and disrespected by the locals in the village. The story opens up saying “In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people…. Was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so...nimble Burman tripped me up…” (Orwell 1) The elephant in this short story symbolizes the imperialistic British empire. The elephant soon starts to cause a riot and the narrator is prepared to kill it. When the time comes, and all the locals are watching, Orwell is stuck at a crossroad of what to do.
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
Every writer has that one special quirk that keeps readers coming back for more. Whether it is the humor or the characters, most authors carry their quirks from story to story. In “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell describes his experience of shooting an elephant. In “A Hanging,” he describes the emotions that run through him as he watches the hanging of a prisoner. Both essays have similar key ideas that identify Orwell as a writer. The results of pride and power contribute to the themes that connect his essays and identify Orwell as a descriptive writer.
Orwell’s continuous use of literary techniques aid in demonstrating the true irony and emotional state of the event, which then only further validates
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
Readings for 23 January (Orwell and Mitford) Both Orwell and Mitford’s essays employ a dark, unnerving tone as they go about describing death. In Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” the essayist describes his time serving as an officer in Burma. Ridiculing the concept of Imperialism, Orwell’s prose expresses his hostile feelings toward the British and their hegemony over weaker nations. Orwell sets up the pessimistic, miserable tone of his essay in his introduction, stating, “In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by a large number of people—the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me.”
The narrator in George Orwell’s Killing an Elephant despises his job and hates the way it makes him look. At the start of the story the narrator instantly starts complaining about his job. Telling how it got on his nerves how much the natives hated him and how they would do little things to show they don’t obey the crown like tripping the narrator in a football game. Talking about these little things shows that he cares what the natives think of him and it’s the job they see not him. He doesn’t want to be the guy who is always seen for what the British empire is and be like every other officer always trying to rob the people as he says, “For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives," and
and disrupting the little bit of peace that they have. So in that instant he
George Orwell’s essay, Shooting an Elephant, chronicles Orwell’s experiences in Moulmein, Burma. Orwell describes his growing hatred for British imperialism and his hardship shooting a wild elephant. Orwell states the incident of shooting the elephant “in a roundabout way was enlightening. It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism.” The incident made Orwell aware that, “governments act from the same petty impulses” that drove Orwell to shoot the elephant.
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.
Due to George Orwell’s many successful works, he has remained a recognizable and respected author from his first moments of fame until now. Orwell’s novels and essays touch on aspects of government and human nature that will always remain relevant. With America’s changing values and controversial times, Orwell’s warning seem more relevant than ever and prove that with strong ideas, a novel can remain current beyond lifetimes.
George Orwell is an amazing writer of the 20th century who is famous for his short stories and poems. In many of his essays, he seeks to entertain and educate the audience about a particular aspect of society. Among his best works include “Politics and the English Language” and “Shooting an Elephant”. These two stories are written very meticulously in order to show the audience how easily we as humans tend to change the things we say, along with our behavior due to others influence on us. The two essays share some similarities when it comes to their writing style, but differ greatly when it comes to their tone.
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