Shooting An Elephant Imperialism Analysis

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 short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, demonstrates the harsh environment, and survivalist mode that the people of Burma are in. The Burmese people had been unjustly seized over, the British Empire was crumbling therefore they invaded the space around them. The narrator starts preparing the essay manifesting his perspective on British Imperialism. He claims that it is evil and he is contradicting the oppressors. Although he is a British officer in Burma, he feels a certain hatred and guilt towards himself, the empire, and the “evil-spirited little beasts,” (Orwell) the Burmese people.

In George Orwells’s “Shooting an Elephant”, we see how the author describes how he is in a very special and difficult circumstance. The background information he gives in the story explains how he was born and raised in India, but went to school in England. Soon after, he became an officer for the English government but was stationed over in India during their imperialistic reign. Much of this information is useful to the reader in helping understand his unique situation that he finds himself in the story. Throughout the story we notice symbols such as the rifle, the elephant, and even Orwell himself that represent the British’s power over the people, the evils of imperialism, and the slow decline of the British empire.

“Shooting an Elephant,” an essay published in 1936, uses multiple devices to inform readers about imperialism and how it negatively affects the oppressed and the oppressor. George Orwell, the author of the essay, was a supporter of democratic socialism and was a strong advocate against social injustices. The essay was based on a time when Orwell was a police officer in colonial Burma. Orwell uses an elephant throughout the essay to effectively explain to the audience the relationship between the Burmese and the British. In addition, he also directly and indirectly talks about his feelings towards imperialism through the use of symbolism, metaphors, syntax, and diction . Orwell

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.

The consequence of imperialism is discussed in “Shooting an Elephant”; The victim of imperialism is not only the natives but also the narrator. Indeed, this essay is about the suffering and the struggling of Orwell who is torn between the Burmese’s actions and the Imperial System.

Throughout history the most famous poets have devoted their entire lives to literature and in doing so, have become very well known. George Orwell easily became one of the most famous poets of the modern century. Although he did not grow up as an avid writer, he quickly made a name for himself. The officer would write one of a kind stories about his own experiences and the lessons learned from them. Resulting in a great amount of attention and praise for his excellent work. Cindy Johnson, a biographer explains, “He wrote numerous essays and reviews over the years, developing a reputation for producing well-crafted literary criticism.” This obviously meaning that Orwell endured a great deal of criticism in his officer duties as well as in his writings. One of Orwell’s most famous poems is, Shooting An Elephant, in which he explains the messages of the effects of peer pressure, the realization of the importance of experiences long after they have happened, and the disappearance of imperialism.

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.

In George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant”,George explores the complexities of imperialism–and how they are mutually pernicious to both people involved. He wrote, “A story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes.” The idea is demonstrated when he hunts down the elephant. Though the Burmese people warn him of the elephant’s rampage and tell him he’s in danger, he finally finds the elephant peacefully grazing–and it is an entirely different creature than what the people described to him.The idea is noteworthy to the essay because, on a prodigious scale, it uncovers the complex characters of imperialism.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,” a renowned quote from Mark Twain. War Prayer, written by Mark Twain condemns the very essence of war. Constructed through a consequential sequence of events he gashes in society's ideals. He tediously picks apart the patriotism that was held so dear to society. In doing so he lay bare to the true horror of the Philippine- American War. No, not the Philippine- American War, rather all war. In Twain's War Prayer, he uses rhetorical techniques to convey his intention, point of view and the effect he intended to produce in his audience.

It only takes a second to make a choice, yet the choice made in that second can have ramifications for a lifetime. In the story, “Shooting an Elephant”, by George Orwell, the author uses his experience and reevaluates himself as a British police officer of Moulmein, Burma. He is hated by the village because he is a British man. Orwell goes up against a situation in life. He is confronted with difficulty such as an elephant in need to be killed because Orwell does not wish to face humiliation from the natives.

The two world wars assured an end to British rule in foreign lands. Only by abandoning its imperialistic ways, and the help of the English Channel making an invasion by the Nazis impossible, was it allowed to survive. The beginning of every empire is also always the beginning of its end. Such a task as to keeping an empire together and in order is nearly impossible to maintain. So the elephant may also be a depiction of the British Empire.

figure of a sahib” (Orwell 909). Orwell doesn’t suffer from the moral implications of killing the

Imperialism is a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or militaristic force. Often times, it involves the complete usurpation of a country’s power and involuntary renouncement of people’s rights. This idea is expressed in works such as “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, The Wretched of the Earth by Fanon, “An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty,” A Tempest by Cesaire, and “The Strangehold of English Lit” by Mnthali. These writers all portray imperialism as a discriminatory act in which the well-being of imperialists are given significance over the imperialized. In the ideal case of imperialism, the imperialized and imperialists are accommodated equally. However, all these cases of imperialism, as depicted

In 1936, George Orwell published his short story ‘Shooting an elephant’ in an English magazine. Since then, it has been republished dozens of times and holds a place as a definitive anti-colonial piece of literature, in an era where the British Empire was at its peak and covered almost 1/3 of the Earth’s surface. George Orwell believed that “…imperialism was an evil thing...” and uses much themes, symbolism and irony to convey his strong anti-colonialist feelings.