How To Shoot An Elephant Dangerous

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

Orwell thinks that He finds the elephant to be more important than the people because he finds a similarity with the elephant. He is very similar to the elephant because the narrator is compelled to do a job that he hates on impulse, and he watches death and causes a lot of agony in the Burmese people’s live. This is related to how the elephant went on rage and tried to wipe out any of the Burmese people who got in its path. He uses the phrase “All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirted little beast who tried to make my job impossible” (Orwell 2). As Orwell finds the value of the elephant, he finds no value in the people; the elephant and him share the interest that they are hard workers and cannot handle what they have to do in

During Orwell's time in India he 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.

At the same time, the narrator is also the victim of the Imperialism System itself. Under the system, it seems that the British manipulate the Burmese, but in reality, it is the opposite situation. The Burmese had the control over the British, especially people like the author who worked in a country under colonization. Orwell

Orwell was ambivalent about 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.

Orwell recalls an event that happened to him while he was a British police officer in Burma. One day in Burma, Orwell receives a report that an elephant has gone a “must”. While investigating, he hears the screams of terrified children. Orwell rushes to the scene and discovers the corpse of an Indian with obvious elephant foot markings all over his body. When Orwell finally tracks down the elephant, “he was tearing up bunches of grass, beating them against his knees to clean them and stuffing them into his mouth” (Orwell 279). Orwell immediately realizes he shouldn’t shoot it, because the elephant is tame and calm. In addition to the behavior of the elephant, Orwell also considers how shooting the elephant would affect its owner, because a working elephant is worth 100 euros alive versus a measly 5 euros dead. Although Orwell believes the elephant is “no more dangerous than a cow”, he ultimately chooses to let his perceived thoughts of the crowd force him to take action opposite of his personal beliefs (Orwell 280). Instead of reaping the benefits of his beliefs, Orwell pays a consequence for his

In this situation, the elephant represents the colonization of the British in Burma. Since the elephant has its’ liberty restricted the end result: the elephant is violent and rebels in response to being shackled. The elephant showcases the rejection of imperialism through the narrator's feelings. Orwell’s attitude affects his job because when he was called to take care of the elephant incident, he does not take a standpoint on either the people or the

Many of the reasons he does not want to shoot the elephant are for the wrong reasons though. At the time he finds the elephant he says, “it is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant - it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery - and obviously one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided.” Doing a bad thing is not the same as being a bad person. By most accounts people regard Orwell as a great author. His most famous books focusing on social inequality. So the act he commits that this essay centers around did not tarnish his legacy. It also does not leave him free of blame either. At the time he shot the animal he says the “must” had worn off and was a seemingly docile animal eating in a field far

I peered through my window at the gang of children; four of them were kicking and clawing another child curled on the asphalt — his knees to his face, covering his head from their pummeling feet. My chest tightened knowing that there were too violent and too many for me to stop, being a child myself I knew that I has no chance of pulling them off without being hurt as well. The reason for this attack escaped my knowledge as I was isolated inside my room, detached from the outside world. I contemplated what I could do and something inside me instinctively pulled for me to run for help but the beating stopped as quickly as it started, I watched the others disperse. The victim got up and walk away, jeering fists at the retiring children, spitting

Orwell never wanted to shoot the Elephant as he even compared destroying the elephant to “destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery.” However, as the crowd which represented pressure, watched on with amusement as if as Orwell put it, “they were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.” The “magic rifle” being Orwell’s wand that entranced the audience with every move he made. As Orwell continues to have an inner dilemma he ultimately becomes as he puts it, “in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces.” One of the major themes throughout the book being pressure to conform. Keep in mind that during this time Orwell a British police officer justifiably despised upon in Burma as Great Britain colonized Burma enforcing harsh imperialism. Orwell at first tried to justify himself if he shot the elephant by walking within twenty-five yards and if the elephant charged him he would shoot. However, that play never came into fruition as he could not get past the possibility that the Burmese would see him get trampled by the elephant. As his previous plan to not shoot the elephant went down the train, he finally cracked under pressure, solving his inner dilemma. A subtle element incorporated into the elephant was when he would not die after Orwell shot him. That represented how he made the wrong choice and was truly unjustified in shooting the elephant as his dilemma never truly ended, it merely transformed into something else. The elephant represented Colonialism as you could never truly kill that, furthermore, you can not go back in time and fix your mistakes. As can be seen with him leaving the elephant after continuously shooting him, not being able to endure the “dreadful noise.” Representing that Orwell’s actions like that of Britain colonizing Burma, were both irreversible,

The narrator is a sub-divisional police officer at Moulmein, in Lower Burma. In his position, he sees the misery that imperialism produces. With his great authority came great anticipation. As a police officer he was targeted and disrespected by the local people. The young man was convinced he hated what he did for a living. Several citizens in the community ridiculed him every step of the way. As the days progressed he realized the faster he got the job done the sooner he could leave.

Orwell must reconcile: 1) himself vs. British imperialism (the physical aspect of leaving the Empire), 2) Stuck between his physiological and psychological disownment from both British oppressor and oppressed Burmese, Orwell must shoot the elephant that symbolizes both his position of power and powerlessness against tyranny. While the pretext of European authority is well-ingrained in both the Burmese and British minds, this veil hides a “hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib” (Orwell 909). Orwell doesn’t suffer from the moral implications of killing the

Why does George Orwell shoot the elephant? In the story by George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”, George, a European police officer, shot the elephant because he was called upon by a sup-inspector at a police station on the other end of town to handle the matter of ravaging elephant. As the village people from the City of Moulmein, gathered around with excitement, he felt as he must shoot the innocent elephant that had escaped due to the fact that he felt pressured into doing so. The Burmans, did not expect the Europeans with open arms, so when this opportunity presented itself he reacted on the reaction of the people of the City of Moulmein. So since they all cheered and had smiles on their face he wanted to please the crowd, even though,

George Orwell, a white British police officer in Burma, met many conflicts and setbacks when deciding if he should shoot an unruly elephant or not. These conflicts, and the power of pressure would eventually weigh down on him and put him a situation to make a life or death decision. Some

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