Orwell And Shooting An Elephant

     In Langston Hughes’ essay “Salvation,” Langston talks about the first time he is going to be saved from sin. Langston is a young boy around the age of thirteen. He is going to church to see Jesus for the first time. In which case, he truly experiences religion for the first time in his life. Throughout this essay Langston uses many narrative techniques such as, imagery, metaphors, and irony to explain his interpretation of that one night when he did not see Jesus.

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.

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

Imagine being placed in a situation that holds the fate of a breathing elephant, the largest land animal in the world. Would you spare its life or begin the end of it in a blink of an eye? In Eric Arthur Blair’s essay Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell, arguably Blair himself, was once confronted with this very question. As an English police officer in Burma during the Age of Imperialism, Orwell was called upon to investigate an aggressive elephant that was ravaging a local bazaar and later discovered, even killed a man. When he finally located the mammal, “at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow” (Orwell 2). Orwell’s immediate thoughts were that he ought not to shoot the creature “I had no intention of shooting the elephant--I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary” (2). However, Orwell’s initial thoughts would not be put into action. Orwell would later go on to kill the elephant with three shots aimed at the brain as over two thousand native people

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.

There are many different reasons as to why George Orwell chose to shoot the Elephant in the short story, ”Shooting an Elephant”. In the following essay, there will be a wide and deep response of why George Orwell chose to shoot the elephant in the end.

People often do favors to please others, even if it means a loss of dignity. George Orwell’s short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, is an ideal example. In the story, Orwell, the main character, works as a policeman in Burma in the 1930s for the British Empire. One day, an elephant tramples loose, and although Orwell has no intent on shooting the elephant, a mob of native Burmese pressures Orwell to shoot the elephant. He reluctantly acquiesces to prevent being humiliated. After that experience, Orwell writes “Shooting an Elephant” to demonstrate native resentment of the British through mood, to reveal the tyranny of imperialism and its effects on the natives through imagery, and to informs the reality of the natives manipulating the British through foreboding diction. All of these purposes support Orwell’s ultimate purpose of ending imperialism and colonization.

Throughout "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, he addresses his  internal battle with the issues of morality and immorality. He writes of several situations that show his immoral doings. When George Orwell signed up for a five-year position as a British officer in Burma he was unaware of the moral struggle that he was going to face. Likewise, he has an internal clash between his moral conscious and his immoral actions. Therefore, Orwell becomes a puppet to the will of the Burmese by abandoning his thoughts of moral righteousness. This conflicts with the moral issue of relying upon other's morals, rather than one's own conscience.

When you know that everyone wants you to do something and their will is pushing yours, even if you feel like what they want done isn't what you believe should be done. This is the problem that George Orwell faced, he was pushed by a crowd to kill the the elephant even though he felt it was wrong.  The essay shows through the language that Orwell uses that his pride pushed him to kill the elephant and the deep regret he feels afterwards.

In this narrative, we see the irony in Langston Hughes “salvation”. He carries us through the journey of this day, where we can almost hear the preachers sermon and the praying congregation if we close our eyes long enough. He engages us with the singing, preaching and shouting of his charismatic church. The details in his narrative help me recreate a typical Sunday morning at my church, where you too would feel pressured if you did not get out of your seat to raise your hands. “Why don’t you come?

There are few aspects of our lives more intimately personal than our faith. The foundation of our moral compass, it is painstakingly shaped – chiseled – by our boundless experiences. Rarely absolute, its complexity adds to its fervency. “Salvation” by Langston Hughes speaks of the singular experience that is one’s faith through the eyes of a young boy. As a 12-year-old, he attends a revival at his Auntie Reed’s church. Like most children, he is obligated to participate and, on the last night, is paraded to the front of the church with all the other children. He has repeatedly been told that, “when you [are] saved you [see] a light, and something happen[s] to you inside” (paragraph 2) and, therefore, takes this direction literally, expecting

Salvation is something looked for in religion,although many are pressured into finding it ,as found in Langston Hughes writing. I Believe his writing is a situation many others find themselves come upon. The key in hughes piece of writing, “Salvation” is peer pressure, and I believe all of us have ran into a situation that has dealt with this concept. As langston stands at the bench with the other children; he is religiously pressured to be saved by jesus. I myself have felt this same feeling, about two summers ago; i went to church camp due to the fact that all my other friends were going . It was an exciting experience, until I found myself challenged by the fact does really exist? Thinking about it , I talked to a camp mentor and she said,

In one of George Orwell’s famous works The Road to Wigan Pier the man famously quoted “In order to hate imperialism, you have to be a part of it. (goodreads.com)” This quote symbolizes George Orwell’s attitude toward imperialism that is clearly expressed in two of his most famous essays, Shooting an Elephant and A Hanging. The quote also makes one think about what being a part of imperialism really means; For example, in both stories George Orwell’s character is portrayed as an English figure of authority in the occupied area of Burma. In both of George Orwell’s writings the groups of people that are split from each other are the British and native Indians. Orwell used many Symbols throughout his two famous writings to describe

A large number of successful authors have one common trait in their writing: they create a powerful narrative or argument through the concept of an other, a person or group who opposes the authors view. To choose one side of a conflict is to give an indication of what the persons beliefs, motivation, and identity are. In the case of Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, he establishes his beliefs with the actions of Burmans, which he portrays as the others. He states that, “It was a bit of fun to them…it made me vaguely uneasy. I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself” (438). Orwells point is to make a sharp contrast between the narrator and the Burmans so that their values could be

In the essay “Shooting an Elephant,” narrator George Orwell feels an astonishing sense of guilt after giving in to social pressures, and killing an elephant. The act of confessing one’s wrongdoings gives one a sense of comfort in knowing that the remorse is no longer trapped. However, confession does not erase blameworthiness for misdeeds.