How Does Orwell Show The Effects Of Imperialism

As a European white man in the British colony of India, George Orwell, in his narrative essay Shooting an Elephant, describes one of his most memorable events while living in the Southeast Asian nation of Burma. Orwell’s purpose is to share the absolute horror of living in imperialism. He adopts a tense tone throughout his essay by using vivid description and gruesome imagery in order to relate the incident with the elephant to what it is like to live in imperialism.

George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’ (Orwel, 1936) represents a number of strangers being involved in a combined encounter. The situation throughout the essay represents the unjust British occupation of Burma, the hatred towards him as a British officer and the elephant symbolising the British. The part of the text chosen clearly exemplifies how a forced duty can lead to hatred. The text chosen displays that he is forced to encounter the Burmese people yet they despise him. Although the encounter with the Burmese improves with the arrival of the elephant, Orwell still has a sense of isolation. Throughout the text Orwell questions the presence of the British in the East exploring that the encounter with the Burmese should not have took place.

One day, an elephant broke free from it’s chains and in a fit of “must” began ravaging the bazaar. The Burmese were without weapons, so they had little defense against the beast. Thus, Orwell set out to find it with a rifle much too small to any damage. It was not until, the elephant killed a man that Orwell sent for an elephant rifle. However, upon seeing the elephant rifle the natives went into a frenzy, excited to see the beast killed, but more excited for the meat. The narrator had no intention of shooting the elephant, for once he found it, it was peacefully eating grass, its “must” already wearing off. In the moment, Orwell knew he should not shoot the animal, it was a source of income for someone, an expensive piece of machinery. However, with the crowd of two thousand standing behind him, this choice was far from easy. It is here where the paradox of imperialism begins. Despite Orwell being the one with the rifle and technically being in charge, he feels powerless against the natives. It was in that moment that the author realizes when a man “becomes a tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.” Orwell eventually chose to slay the elephant with multiple gunshots, much to the natives pleasure. To wrap up the story, Orwell explains that he simply shot the elephant to avoid looking a

When you first read “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell you may think it is a story to entertain you. However, the entire piece is a metaphor about Britain imperialism. Orwell’s views on imperialism is quickly identified when he says “For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing.” (Shooting an Elephant George Orwell) As the story progresses the police officer is given orders to find a “ravaging elephant” who was destroying the village in Burma and its people. Once the officer finds the elephant he contemplates shooting it because it looked so peaceful. In the end the officer succumbs to the peer pressure from the large crowd following him, and 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.

“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 “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell retold an occasion where he was struggling to come to a final decision of whether to shoot the elephant or not. With his final decision, the elephant finally lay dying in front of thousands of people. He said that he was forced to shoot it because the Burmese people were expecting him to do that. In addition, he also explained that he had to do it “to avoid looking like a fool” in front of the crowd (14). At first glance, one would think that it makes sense for him to kill the elephant to save his face, but that was not the case. He effectively uses this incident to demonstrate the “real nature of imperialism” (3), whereas the elephant represents the British Empire.

The essay describes the experience of the English narrator, possibly Orwell himself, called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer in Burma. Because the locals expect him to do the job, he does so against his better judgment, his anguish increased by the elephant 's slow and painful death. The story is regarded as a metaphor for British imperialism, and for Orwell 's view that "when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys."

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 Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses his experiences as a European police officer in Burma during early 20th century imperialism in order to convey that imperialism destroyed both the native and the white man’s freedom. When Orwell is reluctant to shoot the elephant, he states “I perceive in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” He appeals to the audience’s emotion by stating this, making it clear that he feels more pressured by the native Burmans in that moment than he ever did as the oppressor. Consequently, he feels as if the Burmans have more power over him than vice versa.   Likewise, Orwell’s emotional appeal is displayed when he goes into detail about the hatred that

George Orwell, author of, "Shooting an Elephant" gives detailed scenarios to help the audience discover different interpretations of his inner conflicts. He then connects his piece to historical events in India that involved the British empire, he does so by using symbolism in place of description in his story. Narration is used to aid in interpreting Orwell's inner conflicts throughout the story such as killing the elephant, his conflict with the Burmese people, and finally the imperialism Britain had over

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

Shooting an elephant is a true story about George Orwell as he is an Imperial policeman in lower Burma. He is called one day about an elephant that is loose, and is wreaking havoc. When he arrives he wants to scare the elephant away but eventually shoots the elephant to save face. While he is looking for the elephant he asks the villagers which way the elephant went. The villagers give conflicting reports of the elephant's whereabout. The killing of the elephant, the information provided by the villagers, and the pressure of the crowed Orwell says “I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, Irresistibly.”(323) are examples of metaphors for the tensions between the villagers and the British.

In his narrative essay Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses his story as a metaphor, to describe the reasons for the downfall of imperialism, and the British Empire. Orwell, uses symbolization in the essay to depict the status, and tyranny of the British Empire during the 1900’s. Orwell, contemplates his ideas and thoughts to the reader, and depicts that his role as a tyrant is to live up to the expectations of the Burmese, and to bury his thoughts to fulfill the role of a white man in the East. This fact is vividly represented in one of the sayings by Orwell at the end of the essay: “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool” (Orwell 5). Although, the essay is a narrative, if he

. 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