George Orwell's Effects Of Imperialism

Well known author and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experiences as a Policeman in Moulmein, Burma during European Imperialism. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the ideal that what is right and what is accepted don’t always align. He adopts a remorseful tone in order to convey to the reader the weight of his actions. By looking at George Orwell’s use of imagery and figurative language, one can see his strongly conflicting opinions on 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.

The glorious days of the imperial giants have passed, marking the death of the infamous and grandiose era of imperialism. George Orwell's essay, Shooting an Elephant, deals with the evils of imperialism. The unjust shooting of an elephant in Orwell's story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters, the elephant and its executioner. The British officer, the executioner, acts as a symbol of the imperial country, while the elephant symbolizes the victim of imperialism. Together, the solider and the elephant turns this tragic anecdote into an attack on the institution of imperialism.

In the essay ?Shooting an Elephant? by George Orwell, the author uses metaphors to represent his feelings on imperialism, the internal conflict between his personal morals, and his duty to his country. Orwell demonstrates his perspectives and feelings about imperialism.and its effects on his duty to the white man?s reputation. He seemingly blends his opinions and subjects into one, making the style of this essay generally very simple but also keeps it strong enough to merit numerous interpretations. Orwell expresses his conflicting views regarding imperialism throughout the essay by using three examples of oppression and by deliberatly using his introspection on

As society has progressed, the evolution of imperialism has come to a point where people see it has pure history. It has vanished from our daily lives as we have not recently witness a country trying to dominate another. In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, we are able to envision the lives of the Burmese as they were involuntarily controlled by the British. In the early 1900’s we are told a true story of Orwell himself where he was once established in Burma was apart of his military service. During his service, he describes his living situation by noting that the army as well as himself were not appreciated. He mentions, “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.”(1) One day he

In “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell achieves two achievements : he shows us his personal experience and his expression while he was in Burma; he use the metaphor of the elephant to explain to describe what Burma looked like when it was under the British Imperialism. The special about this essay is that Orwell tells us a story not only to see the experience that he had in Burma; he also perfectly uses the metaphor of the elephant to give us deep information about the Imperialism. By going through this essay, we can deeply understand what he thinks in his head. He successfully uses the word choices and the sentences to express his feeling. By reading this essay, Orwell succeeds us with his mesmerizing sentences and shows us the

In the essay “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell recounts his experiences as a British police officer in the British Raj during the 1930s and 40s. During this time period, Great Britain controlled most of South Asia, including the Burman village where Orwell was stationed. He describes the futility of imperialism for both parties involved, directing his experiences to the European audiences of the time. This is meant to provide perspective towards the consequences of European imperialism and internal struggle which Orwell and the British Empire both face. The act of imperialism restricts both the conqueror and the conquered from true freedom and is pointless due to the resistance and morality of human nature.

Starting in the late 19th century, mass imperialism defined the political structure of the world. To justify imperialist actions, scholars, government officials, and common people used science to show that Aryans are the superior race. Karl Pearson was a key proponent of survival of the fittest social theory, and promoted it to all Western Civilization. This way of thinking was apparent throughout Europe and other predominantly white places around the world. But what was it like on the ground in these colonized places and did the people their experience the same imperialistic principals? George Orwell was a sub-divisional police officer in British Moulmein, Burma and offers insight into what the situation was like on the ground. By comparing quotes from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” and Pearson’s “National Life from the Standpoint of Science”, we can see that Orwell experienced the imperialist principles that Pearson describes. These principles include racial superiority, the need for inferior races to respect imperial power, and death of indigenous power.

Throughout Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” he weaves his theory about the effects of imperialism. He explains how it effects not only the oppressed, but the oppressor as well. However, the essay captures a universal experience of going against one’s own humanity as a cost of a part of that humanity.

The essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell examines the truths behind British imperialism and colonialism by following the life of a British soldier stationed in Burma in the 1920s. The essay describes a situation where the Burmese people pressure a young soldier to take action and go against his own desires by exterminating an elephant that had previously raided and destroyed parts of a village and killed one of the Burmese. The soldier also describes his feelings of distaste towards the work that was being done in Burma. This event is when the soldier begins to realize that he is a puppet being played by both the British and the Burmese to do their dwelling. British imperialism is proved to be evil, resulting in the personal gain of the British

In the beginning of the Story Orwell stated “I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing”. With Orwell having to shoot the elephant in his eyes it shows different aspects of imperialism and how evil it is. Orwell focuses on how imperialism forced him to do something he did not want to do. Imperialism wasn’t good for the people nor as in power.

George Orwell is one of the most renowned writers of the twentieth century. Orwell’s essays portray different issues connected with colonial expansion. Colonialism refers to the rule of one nation over a group of people in a geographically distant land. George Orwell became a writer in 1927 and it is in his essays that he first expresses his beliefs about colonialism. In his essays”Shooting an Elephant”,

. By the type of language and the choice of words that the author used to write his essay, it is very likely that it was written for the British people, to make them aware of the injustice and cruelty of Imperialism in the colonies. The author’s aim is to make the reader feel disturbed and uneasy by describing in detail his negative experiences in India. This rhetorical analysis explores the success of the author in portraying the negative impact that Imperialism had on those being governed under it, but also on the impact on those in power. The way Orwell used the words for describing the scene of shooting the elephant, his aim was to get the reader’s mind to understand the injustice of Britain’s rule over the natives. While Shooting an

Theoretically - and secretly, of course - I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British" (p.3). Seeing the "dirty work" of the British Imperialists "oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt" (3).

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.