Shooting An Elephant

Shooting an Elephant is a short story written by George Orwell that takes place in Burma. In this short story George Orwell writes about a life experience he had while he was a young police officer in Burma. Orwell did not enjoy his time in Burma because of the lack of connections he was able to make with people there. He did not agree with the way they ran things, didn't get along with the people, and had a great amount of hatred for his job. On top of Orwell disliking all of this, the people in Burma made it obvious to him that they did not appreciate him either. While Orwell was at a soccer game, he was purposely tripped and instead of anyone showing sympathy for him, everyone yelled out with laughter. Orwell was having a tough time adjusting and badly wanted to get out of Burma. However he was patiently waiting for a big moment he could take advantage of and get the people of Burma to gain a little respect for him. Then one day his opportunity came. The opportunity in front of him was as big as he could imagine.

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

In the short story “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the author uses phenomenal word choice to strengthen the description of the story.Throughout the story the words chosen make “Shooting an Elephant” a story with a plentiful amount of description. In the second paragraph Orwell says “all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt,”(Orwell 1) using the word intolerable changes the whole sentence. By using intolerable the sentence gets a deeper meaning than if the word intolerable was removed from the sentence. Later in the paragraph Orwell again uses great word choice when describing the character feelings. When describing feelings about the empire Orwell said “ I was stuck between my hatred of the empire,”(Orwell 1) and

Throughout “Shooting an Elephant” the narrator expressed many different feelings towards the natives. He showed these feelings that he had throughout the narrative with his diction. His diction helped him to express his feelings toward the natives. The feelings he expressed to the natives Through The story were resentment, sympathy, and a feeling of being controlled or pressured.

Sometimes, the people around a man force him to give up his freedom by giving in to what the audience expects. The person wants to make the audience pleased and wishes to keep his reputation high. In the short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell, who writes from his own experiences, describes the life of the narrator, a policeman in a foreign country, Burma. The narrator feels forced to shoot a wild elephant that has destroyed parts of a village. He does not want to shoot the elephant, but because the Burmese around him seem determined and excited to see the elephant die, the narrator feels compelled to do what the natives request to keep his high status and position of authority.

In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell takes place in English controlled Moulein, Burma Orwell describes an experience he went through serving as an Imperial Police officer that showed him the faults of English rule. Orwell uses symbols to represent the flaws of English Imperialism including the dead coolie, the elephant, and Orwell himself.

In the article, entitled “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the narrator shows the “dark and dirty” face of imperialism with his displeasure toward colonial Britain, gives insight into the human psychology, and clarifies the conflict between his inner feelings and duties/responsibilities as a police officer of the conqueror country. This article exposes remarkable points of imperialistic manners by conqueror country, losing the freedom and life long struggle in colonized land- Burma. The narrator claims that the imperialism is evil by saying it humiliates the citizens of occupied country, makes people become inferior to imperialist country. Secondly, imperialism limits/restricts the rights of occupied people by not allowing them

The story is told in first-person by an unnamed narrator. When a story is told in first person, there is always a chance of the narrator of being biased. In this case, the first person point-of-view gives us an insight into his side on the events taking place in Burma. First off, the narrator is against the oppression of the locals. “I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors.” This is ironic because he is one of the oppressor, however he counters this claim by stating it was an irrefutable part of his job. It is

George Orwell was born in colonial India but was educated in England. When Britain created and empire, Orwell had been working for the police of the British Army in the location of Burma. Orwell realized there was something wrong with certain ways of government and that their is cultural conflicts. “Convinced that human decency and common sense were the basis of a just society, the author repeatedly found himself in conflict with the ideological mass movements of his time, ranging from capitalism to fascism and communism”(Gale). With the realization of these things, Orwell based many of his stories off of cultural differences, and the negatives of different types of government. In George Orwell’s short story Shooting an Elephant, Orwell explains his bitter days of being a police officer in Burma. Shooting an Elephant explains three important messages Orwell learned while in Burma.

In the short story, “Shooting an Elephant,” author George Orwell discusses his life as a police officer in Burma, a poverty-stricken nation in southeastern Asia, during a time in which the nation was governed under imperialist control by Great Britain. Orwell recollects his time as an officer as being dreadful, as he was tormented by the citizens in the Burma no matter what positive act he would do. At first, George Orwell is confused in the reasoning behind why the citizens disliked his presence. “All this was perplexing and upsetting,” Orwell explains as he hypothesizes the reasoning behind this inner hatred and resentment shown by the citizens of Burma (Orwell 125). However, after the event in which Orwell protects the town of Moulmein from an insane elephant ravaging the city by him shooting and killing it, he realizes why the people of Burma despised his presence: Orwell’s European culture clashed with the culture of the Burman people.

In “Shooting an Elephant”, a short narrative written by George Orwell about the time he served as a British officer in the Burma during the 1930s under british reign, we can see that he applies extensive use of metaphors and grim imagery throughout the text to describe his loss of morality and dignity , empathy for the Burmese people, and paradox that is the British rule in Burma. He vividly describes the negative effect of this imperialism through his writing in “Shooting An Elephant”.

African elephants are the largest animals on the planet. They are native to 37 African countries. There are two species of African elephants-the Forest elephant and the Savanna elephant. These majestic creatures are rapidly declining in numbers due to illegal poaching. The ivory trade has made African elephants an endangered species.

The short story can be divided into two parts. In the first two paragraphs the narrator introduces himself and talks about his life and experience in working as a “sub-divisional police officer” in the town of Moulmein in Lower Burma. He also talks about his ambiguous attitude towards the Burmese people who ridicule and mock him because of anti-European feelings and towards the British Empire whose “dirty

In the essay, Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell, makes references into today’s society; Orwell’s essay states how society wears “masks” and eventually grow to fit them and he was a slave to this, he was forced to be someone he wasn't. Through the documentary, Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Bell tells of the aftereffects that the “mask” that has been put on by America. Virginia Woolf’s novel, A Room of One's Own, states how women have had expectations in society to be only a servant to their husband and children. Women writers breakthrough this stereotype and state the struggles of women with intelligence. These authors have displayed these expectations through different forms of art to inform people of the horrendous effects of the “mask” on society.

The deplorable treatment of the Burmese people leads to ever growing hostilities between the oppressors and the oppressed. Orwell experiences this hatred first hand while working in Burma, making particular note of the Buddhist priests, afraid for their religion, who “stand on corners and jeer at Europeans” (Orwell, 1). Despite the open hostility that the Burmese people continue to openly