Why Does George Orwell Shoot The Elephant?

George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’ (Orwel, 1936) represents a number of strangers being involved in a combined encounter. The situation throughout the essay represents the unjust British occupation of Burma, the hatred towards him as a British officer and the elephant symbolising the British. The part of the text chosen clearly exemplifies how a forced duty can lead to hatred. The text chosen displays that he is forced to encounter the Burmese people yet they despise him. Although the encounter with the Burmese improves with the arrival of the elephant, Orwell still has a sense of isolation. Throughout the text Orwell questions the presence of the British in the East exploring that the encounter with the Burmese should not have took place.

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

2. In paragraphs 3-5 Orwell is shown as searching for the elephant and discovering all the damage that the elephant has caused while on its rampage, and we see orwell eventually “sent an orderly to a friends house to borrow an elephant rifle”(page 2). After he receives this gun he is shown as socially pressured because all the burmese people expect him to “shoot the elephant” (page 3), but he doesn’t want to shoot the elephant himself. These details intensify the conflict because he originally got the rifle to defend himself, but now since all the burmese people already expect him to shoot the elephant he can’t really back down since he would be laughed at and mocked if he did. Orwell has to decide

Haley Collins Professor Henery English 100 February 17, 2016 Shooting an Elephant The essay “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell is set in time during the 1800’s when the country of Burma had been conquer and then controlled by the British. In “Shooting and Elephant,” the essay is illustrated through the eyes of a British Imperial Officer who undergoes a life-changing event that demonstrates the true effects Imperial control. In this essay Orwell describes the horrific killing of an elephant and the emotions and frustrations the Officer endures while deciding the initial fate of the animal.

“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell, who was an Assistant Superintendent in the British Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927. The essay was published in 1936. Burma was occupied by the British over a period of 62 years (1823-1886) and it was directed as a province of India until it became a separate colony in 1937. In the essay, Orwell narrates the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and expresses the feelings that he goes through during the event. The writer’s theme is that imperialism is not an effective way of governing. It can be decoded through his

“Shooting an Elephant” is a short anecdote written by George Orwell. The story depicts a young man, Orwell, who has to decide whether to bend the rules for his superiors or to follow his own path. George Orwell works as the sub-divisional police officer of Moulmein, a town in the British colony of Burma. He, along with the rest of the English military are disrespected by the Burmese due to the English invading their territory and taking over. Over time, Orwell, the narrator, has already begun to question the presence of the British in the Far East. He states, theoretically and secretly, he was “all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” Orwell describes himself as “young and ill-educated,” bitterly hating his job. Orwell uses powerful imagery and diction to convey a depressing and sadistic tone to the story. At the end of the story, he faces a dilemma: to kill the elephant or not.

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 the article "Shooting an Elephants" by George Orwell the author's story is very captivating and descriptive. “I remember that it was a cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginning of the rains.” He does not hold back the details as if he remembers them. Orwell originally did not want to shoot the elephant but feared what his peers would say, his peers being the thousand yellow faces that stood behind him if he didn't complete his job. Unfortunately, he was not in fear of his life but his duty and job called for him to against his morals and shoots the elephant. The locals had it out for him anyways, not killing elephant would have added fire to the flame of the dislike they would have for the policeman. The Burmese people play a huge role, badgering

There are many different reasons as to why George Orwell chose to shoot the Elephant in the short story, ”Shooting an Elephant”. In the following essay, there will be a wide and deep response of why George Orwell chose to shoot the elephant in the end.

In conclusion George Orwell essay “ Shooting An Elephant” expresses through his language that pride was something that pushed him to pull the trigger even though if it had been him alone he would have never pulled it.  He also showed  through his use of colour language and imagery the regret he feels for shooting the

Shooting an elephant is a true story about George Orwell as he is an Imperial policeman in lower Burma. He is called one day about an elephant that is loose, and is wreaking havoc. When he arrives he wants to scare the elephant away but eventually shoots the elephant to save face. While he is looking for the elephant he asks the villagers which way the elephant went. The villagers give conflicting reports of the elephant's whereabout. The killing of the elephant, the information provided by the villagers, and the pressure of the crowed Orwell says “I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, Irresistibly.”(323) are examples of metaphors for the tensions between the villagers and the British.

Orwell never wanted to shoot the Elephant as he even compared destroying the elephant to “destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery.” However, as the crowd which represented pressure, watched on with amusement as if as Orwell put it, “they were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.” The “magic rifle” being Orwell’s wand that entranced the audience with every move he made. As Orwell continues to have an inner dilemma he ultimately becomes as he puts it, “in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces.” One of the major themes throughout the book being pressure to conform. Keep in mind that during this time Orwell a British police officer justifiably despised upon in Burma as Great Britain colonized Burma enforcing harsh imperialism. Orwell at first tried to justify himself if he shot the elephant by walking within twenty-five yards and if the elephant charged him he would shoot. However, that play never came into fruition as he could not get past the possibility that the Burmese would see him get trampled by the elephant. As his previous plan to not shoot the elephant went down the train, he finally cracked under pressure, solving his inner dilemma. A subtle element incorporated into the elephant was when he would not die after Orwell shot him. That represented how he made the wrong choice and was truly unjustified in shooting the elephant as his dilemma never truly ended, it merely transformed into something else. The elephant represented Colonialism as you could never truly kill that, furthermore, you can not go back in time and fix your mistakes. As can be seen with him leaving the elephant after continuously shooting him, not being able to endure the “dreadful noise.” Representing that Orwell’s actions like that of Britain colonizing Burma, were both irreversible,

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, is an interesting essay that shows the audience the effect of insecurity and peer pressure. The essay starts off with setting up what exactly Orwell is dealing with in Moulmein. While he holds symbolic authority and military supremacy and is also “theoretically —and secretly” on their side by being opposed to the oppressive British empire he serves, He is an outsider, and he is still powerless to stop their insults and abuse he receives from oppressed Burmese. When an elephant causes mayhem around the town Orwell takes charge of trying to find it. When the creatures is seen nearby, Orwell asks for a gun. This leads for him a mistake he unintentionally made. He was not planning on to shooting the elephant,

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

Have you ever been pressured into doing something you didn’t want to, but felt like you had no other option? The narrator in Orwell's, “Shooting an Elephant” had a very similar experience. He was pressed by the Burmese into committing a senseless killing that he did not deem necessary. This transformation of the main characters mentality and morals gives the audience a terrific example of characterization, which would not be possible without the effective use of point of view in Orwell's story.