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Shooting An Elephant Imperialism Essay

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The short story “Shooting an Elephant”, by George Orwell, can be seen as one broad metaphor for imperialism. In the story, Orwell is direct about discussing imperialism from the narrator's point of view. But, if the reader analyzes “Shooting an Elephant” through a historical critical lens then representation of imperialism can be seen in many other aspects of the story as well. Through this lens, we can not only see the effects of imperialism on the policeman and the people of the colonized nation, but we can see it reflected in the plot and what happens to the elephant and its true owner. Britain's colonization of Burma is directly reflected in the European officer’s views and the treatment of the native peoples. The elephant, which is shot by the policeman represents imperialized nations, and the shooter and crowd who came to see him both represent imperialist nations. …show more content…

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Britain was a strong imperialist nation. Britain's vast imperialism can be summed up in the quote “ the sun never sets on the British Empire”. They conquered and exploited many nations (to the point where it was always daytime somewhere the British controlled), including Burma, which was part of Britain's imperialism of India. Britain used India and Burma for profit. There was little to no regard for the culture or lives of people there. Native peoples we mistreated and seen as less by their white european oppressors (people from Great Britain) (Encyclopedia). Knowing even just a surface level history of what was going on at the time “Shooting an Elephant” was written is enough to help a reader further analyze the effects and reasons of events in the

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