Symbolism Of Imperialism In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

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.

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.

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

He demonstrates that this oppression perhaps goes deeper than the average man would imagine, noticeably hindering even the lives of the oppressors. The elephants controlling force over Orwell is compared to that of an imperialist.

In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses his experiences as a European police officer in Burma during early 20th century imperialism in order to convey that imperialism destroyed both the native and the white man’s freedom. When Orwell is reluctant to shoot the elephant, he states “I perceive in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” He appeals to the audience’s emotion by stating this, making it clear that he feels more pressured by the native Burmans in that moment than he ever did as the oppressor. Consequently, he feels as if the Burmans have more power over him than vice versa.   Likewise, Orwell’s emotional appeal is displayed when he goes into detail about the hatred that

In George Orwell’s 1936 essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell thoroughly describes his position in Burma, India during a period of British imperialism. Though Orwell is a police officer working for the British, his mind varies in the feelings he has towards his position. Orwell feels ambivalence, as he thinks that his position is controversial because he despises imperialism, yet when trying to do his job and simultaneously please the Burmese, Orwell receives contempt from them. Orwell tries to convey his ambivalence and contradictory feelings by showing the extent to which he is abused in Burma using irony, by portraying the effects of his position on him using juxtaposition, and by showing his inner guilt regarding the Burmese using

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.

In his essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell revealed a lot about himself. Immediately Orwell explained that he served as a sub-divisional police officer in Lower Burma, surrounded by the hatred of the Burmese people because of his European background. Orwell considered the British empire an unconscionable tyranny, yet he still hated the disrespectful Burmese who torment him. The Burmese people expected Orwell to demonstrate the same authority over what was then a peaceful elephant, that the British Empire displayed over them. Orwell as an officer and in this way, upheld the image of the authority that most officers represent.

Orwell introduces the idea of humiliation of the poor natives by the imperialists. Having served as a British soldier, Orwell experienced overwhelming bitterness and

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

The writing of the memoir, “Shooting an Elephant”, by George Orwell, was published in the year of 1936, a critical point of British imperialism. Imperialism during this time consisted of the spread in power through despotism in many native lands and cultures. Taking place in Burma, while British rule was still at large, the story follows the events Orwell experienced while stationed as a sub-divisional police officer in a Native Burmese town. In vivid description, Orwell expresses his hatred and shame of playing a part in the British Empire through the account of it’s effect on the Burmese: “...the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos----all these oppressed me with an

In order to fully understand and appreciate a story, it must consist of a good structure, or framework. The structure of this story begins with a setting in lower Burma. Orwell uses a fourteen paragraph narrative approach to connect with his readers in this story. We are given our setting, lower Burma, in the first paragraph followed by several negative person experiences. These experiences help us relate to the narrator on a personal level and feel compassion for him. The paragraphs flow beautifully giving us great insight into his day- to- day life and exactly why he succumbs to peer

In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, he confesses to the hatred of an imperialistic India that causes him to go against his beliefs while receiving no respect. At this time Burma was under British control with the use of imperialism. George Orwell was an English police officer serving in Burma, India and hating each aspect of his time there. He was hated by all the Burma, just for being British, but George Orwell was not necessarily mad, for he sided with the Burma people. He hated the idea of imperialism because it turned people against themselves. However, he didn’t like the Burma people either because they had no respect for him. They would purposely humiliate him in soccer games by knocking him over or standing making jokes. He still

In George Orwell’s passage “Shooting an Elephant,” he is portrayed as a timid, yet a pressured British officer in the Burmese society. Orwell's position concerning human motives is based on his self-perseverance of living in an imperialistic country.

In Shooting an Elephant, through the use of multiple rhetorical devices George Orwell conveys his main point that imperialism is evil.