Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell Research Paper

George Orwell describes to us in “Shooting an elephant” the struggle that his character faces when to win the mobs approval and respect when he shoots down an innocent animal and sacrifices what he believes to be right. Orwell is a police officer in Moulmein, during the period of the British occupation of Burma. An escaped elephant gives him the opportunity to prove himself in front of his people and to be able to become a “somebody” on the social

Two of Orwell’s first literary works were his essays regarding his experiences as a policeman in Burma during imperialization from Europe. These essays include “A Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant.” In these essays, he shows his clear disagreement of oppression, even while working for the oppressors. Orwell writes

All the fuss, actions he was encouraged to make, lead back to his job he had to do, which was one he despised. Orwell’s introduction makes it very clear he doesn't not like being a police officer and especially does not like imperialism. “For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better.” (Orwell,1963,pg. 1) He wanted nothing to do with imperialism, he was all for the Burmese. He didn't believe in the cruel ways the British had forced him to act on. His words are spread among many sentences created this harsh tone. He was furious he was considered part of the imperialism. He was in the group though, and being part of this came with responsibility and standards. Orwell had to prove he was worthy and could hold up his end

First, Orwell encounters the harshness of imperialism. Furthermore, Orwell says, “ the sneering yellow faces of young men… the insults hooted me when I was at a safe distance.”(323) The evil of imperialism has made the Burmese furious. Imperialism has resulted into the in the Burmese to lash out. Because they are impoverished, they’re reacting in the only way they know how. The Burmese lacks the extra resources; they can’t fight back and defend themselves. The Burmese has only viewed Orwell as one of the British because he works with them. They don’t realize the guilt he possesses and that he is on their side. The insults and sneering started to affect him mentally because every time he is on duty, he gets insulted. Even after he was at a safe distance away from them, he still felt the harsh and cruel insults from Burmese. The Burmese are victims of imperialism, so they are entitled to be harsh and cunning towards Orwell even though he feels guilty. Another evil of imperialism is when the Buddhist were harsh. Apart from the Burmese, Orwell also says, “ The young Buddhist priests were the worst of all.”(323) The evil of imperialism has caused the

In "Shooting an Elephant" George Orwell struggles with his conscience by having second thoughts on the actions he takes. “Being a sub-divisional police officer of the town” (2-3) Orwell struggles with feeling “anti-European”, being “all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” (15-16). And of course the shooting of the Elephant that he is not in favor of. “In a job that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters” (17-18) He felt a “sense of guilt” (20) and hatred for his job. Moreover, Orwell talks about how the “Burman tripped him up on the football field and the crowd yelled with laughter” (6-7). But yet he is still “all for the Burmese” (15-16). At last The shooting of the Elephant was something Orwell didn’t

Orwell is an unhappy young policeman who lives in mental isolation.{4} He hates British imperialism, he hates Burmese natives, and he hates his job.{5} He is completely alone with his thoughts since he cannot share his idea that "imperialism was an evil thing" with his countrymen. Orwell sees the British rule as "an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down. . . Upon the will of prostate peoples" because he observes firsthand the cruel imprisonments and whippings that the British use to enforce their control.{6} Nor can he talk to the Burmese because of the "utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East." This "utter silence" results from the reasoning behind imperialism that says, "Our cultures are different. My culture has more power than your culture. Therefore, my culture is superior in every way, and it will rule yours."{7} If one is a member of a superior culture, one must not make

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,

Everyone, at one or time, has succumbed to the pressure of doing something against his or her wishes. In George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell recounts his earlier years as a sub-divisional officer in British-occupied Burma. With their bitter hatred for the white men, the native Burmese would taunt and harass them. Although Orwell sympathizes with the Burmese and against the British, their constant jeering led made him hate his job even more. The crux of this story occurs when Orwell receives a phone call to “do something about” a rampaging elephant that has damaged property, killed a cow, and murdered a man. With a crowd of two thousand natives following him as he, armed with an elephant rifle, watches the elephant, he

“Shooting an Elephant” is the story of Orwell’s experience as an officer of the Imperial British government during a stint in Burma. Orwell constructs a parallel between the devastation of Imperialism and the destructive actions of a Burmese elephant. Although Imperialism is justified by the British Empire, in reality, its effects are detrimental to the countries it conquered and to itself. By definition, Imperialism is the domination of one country over another. Imperial England has formal control, but Orwell is forced to examine the true definition of power through his experience. Although he holds the official power as an officer of the government, his abhorrence of the British treatment of the natives, plagues him with guilt and shame ultimately

Orwell notes the elephant was causing damage to the Burmese’s properties and even a death of a coolie with “an expression of unendurable agony” (130). Orwell decides to chase after the elephant with a rifle to protect the “Burmese population [which] had no weapons and were quite helpless against it” (130). Orwell knows with “perfect certainty that [he] ought not to shoot [the soothed elephant]” and yet “irresistibly” pressured by the “sea of yellow faces… all certain that the elephant was going to be shot”, he realizes “[he] should have to shoot the elephant after all” (131).

Throughout “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell expresses the central idea of peer pressure and how the victim is no longer in control of their actions and essentially becomes the slave of the crowd. The narrator worried that the Burmese would not accept his decision of leaving the elephant alone, and he did not want to be viewed as a fool. Orwell assumed that “if anything went wrong, those two thousand Burmans would see him [me] pursued, caught, and trampled on” (9). He was more concerned about his appearance and reputation, rather than protecting the life of an innocent animal.

George Orwell is an internationally acclaimed author that has been praised for his awareness of social injustice and opposition to totalitarianism. Although in his later life he realized some of his previous misdeeds when Orwell was a young man he served as a police officer in a British controlled Burma. The Burmese people at the time were rightfully scornful towards the Europeans; this includes the young Orwell. The time that Orwell spent in Burma was not all wasted, as it inspired him to come up with a story that questions human morality.

In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell is a British police officer in Burma. One day when an elephant ravaged through a small village, Orwell was forced to shoot the elephant against his free will because of the pressure of “two thousand at the least” (Orwell 1101) Burmans who expected him to shoot the elephant. When he first heard of the elephant he had “no intention of shooting the elephant,” (Orwell 1101) but when the pressure of his surroundings acted on him, he found no other

He was all for the people and what that people wanted in order for him not to look like a fool. “And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly.” (Orwell 136). If the people wanted him to kill the elephant he would do it, because is what they wanted. The pressure of the people was influencing his decisions. Just as we see in today’s society’s, most of the things that are done are because the people want them a certain way. Because the Burmese’s were starving they needed Orwell to shoot the elephant. even if he believed that that was not the right thing to do. In his opinion the elephant didn’t needed to be shot, as for he saw the elephant beating his bunch of grass against his knees, and there is no reason why kill a working animal. Fear was a big factor in his decision, he was scared if, “anything went wrong those two thousands Burmans would see me pursued, caught, trampled on, and reduced to a grinning corpse like that Indian up the hill.” (Orwell 137). He was definitely

George Orwell was a police officer who was ill educated and witnessed many suffering and difficulties which faced Burmese under the British imperialism. Orwell became one of the greatest symbolisms who helped us to understand the evil of colonialism in the primitive Burmese. The hatless between British imperialism and the Burmese were growing rapidly which made George’s works of helping people more difficulty especially in the face of violence, robbery and restoring peaces to areas where European were seen as evil. The shooting of lose elephant by Orwell was seen as a golden opportunity to deliver the symbolism of European power and its superior cultures over the Burmese “Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd--seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind (pg.753)”. The elephant was already caused much destruction in some areas for example he destroyed a bamboo hut, killed a cow, raided some fruit-stalls and devoured the stock. As Orwell showed his intension of killing the elephant, he received a great supports from natives Burmese for many reasons, first, by killing the elephant, the natives would get the meat from elephant, will also