Shooting An Elephant

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.

DISCUSS ORWELL'S USE OF PERSUASIVE TOOLS SUCH AS, SYMBOLISM, METAPHORS AND IRONY IN THIS ESSAY AND EXPLAIN HOW HE USES EACH OF THESE TO CONVEY HIS ARGUMENT OR MESSAGE

“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell, first published in the journal New Writing in 1936. In this essay, the author tells his own story about when he was working as a police officer for the Indian Imperial Police in Burma.

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

In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant” , written by George Orwell, the protagonist, the narrator, is faced with a conflict of shooting or letting the violent elephant live. The narrator is a British policeman who is made fun of and disrespected by the locals in the village. The story opens up saying “In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people…. Was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so...nimble Burman tripped me up…” (Orwell 1) The elephant in this short story symbolizes the imperialistic British empire. The elephant soon starts to cause a riot and the narrator is prepared to kill it. When the time comes, and all the locals are watching, Orwell is stuck at a crossroad of what to do.

The narrator in “Shooting an Elephant,” has a conflict of whether to listen to his own conscious and not shoot the elephant, or listen to the native Burmese and go ahead and execute it. It is a difficult decision to make because as humans we strive for acceptance, but we also want to adhere to our own moral standards. When we are considered an outsider in society, we regrettably jeopardize our own beliefs. When the narrator had finally built up the courage to shoot, he had not heard the shot itself but the “devilish road of glee that went up from the crowd.” He continuously fires with his powerless rifle as he kills the innocent life of the elephant. As he watches the beast fall to the ground, the regret builds up within. The crowd goes wild with encouragement and the narrator realizes what he has done and the power of guilt emerges. He says, “In the end I could not stand it any longer and went away.” When we do something we feel uncomfortable with, those that cheers us on makes us feel noble, but the regret itself destroys our

From the start the author, George Orwell, initiates that the power in Burma is not well organized and not at all safe. Orwell holds a high position of authority and superiority, but still fails to halt the abuse and taunting he receives from the subjugate Burmen. The purpose of Orwell writing the autobiographical essay was to demonstrate the overpowering imperial rule the British enforced as well as to communicate why imperialism is negative to both the oppressor and the oppressed as it obtains freedom. Orwell conveys how persuasion can influence actions since he was basically swayed into killing the elephant. Orwell applies his experience of shooting an elephant as a metaphor for his background with the practice of politically controlling another territory, or imperialism.

At that time the main character did not want to kill the elephant. “As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” He was then pulled into a dilemma and needed to decide between not shooting the elephant because it is beginning to become more peaceful, or shooting the elephant to not look like a fool, in spite of the fact that people who are observing him despise him and vice versa. The main character started to think about how everyone was expecting him to shoot the elephant and that he had to do it, but instead of doing what he believed in, he gave into peer pressure. And at that time I was extremely disappointed.

“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell and published in 1936 (Orwell 66). Orwell was born June 25, 1903, as Eric Arthur Blair and passed away January 21, 1950, in India (“George Orwell Biography”). Orwell was known for his journals, novels, and essays published about his own political views (“George Orwell Biography”). Orwell traveled to Burma after not doing good enough in school to earn a scholarship and decided to join the imperial police (Orwell 66). While on duty one day, Orwell received a call that a rampaging elephant was on the loose that had killed a man and destroyed a hut (Orwell 67). Once Orwell found the elephant calm in a field he was faced with a decision of

In George Orwell “Shooting an Elephant” the story starts off by describing Orwell himself, serving as a police officer in Burma. He elaborates on the main conflict between the Elephant and the British Officer. While on duty Orwell got called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant but Orwell was not for this judgment but the people surrounded him expected him to do it because of his job.

In the story “Shoot an Elephant”, the author, George Orwell, reiterates the governmental clashes between imperialism vs. communism using a symbolic figure to convey the meaning of true justice. The story starts off with the narrator working as a militant police officer of Moulmein, a town in the British colony of Burma. Since he works for the military, he is hated by vast amounts of people throughout the village. Whenever the narrator, George Orwell, patrols a vicinity, citizens of Burmese vocalize insults at him as he walks down the street. The narrator may have an utmost authority and military power over the Burmese people, he is still powerless to stop the insults and abuse he receives from the oppressed Burmese.

The story begins with a description of the typical atmosphere in Burma. That is a atmosphere of hatred that is directed at the Europeans. After this exposition is over, the author hears of an elephant running rampant in the town. It was looking for a ‘partner’. The owner had gone in the wrong direction when he went looking for it. The author goes to find it. He comes to a part of town where he discovers the dead body of a man who had been trampled by the elephant. Ultimately, the author ends up shooting the elephant because it was what was expected by the ‘natives’.

The story “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell seeks to show the audience how easily people are influenced by the expectations of others. He accomplishes this by exploring the effects of British imperialism on the people of lower Burma. Orwell acts as the narrator in this story, telling of experiences he had while working as a sub-divisional police officer in Burma. He explains how he secretly hated his job and supported the Burmese people who where being oppressed. One day, an elephant is found loose wandering around the town causing ruckus, and even killing an Indian coolie. Orwell was ordered to respond to this incident and take control of the situation with whatever means necessary. When he finally finds the elephant, he realizes that it is no longer endangering anyone, and there is no need to shoot it. However, the Burmese people soon gather around and shout excitedly, causing Orwell to change his mind and shoot the elephant to avoid humiliations. The death of the elephant is described with excruciating detail, showing how the elephant suffered as it endured a slow death. At the end, Orwell explains how neither the natives nor his fellow British police officers

"Shooting an Elephant" is the story of a British policeman in Moulmein, a city in Burma, that is torn between shooting or not shooting an elephant that has gone ramped. The native people did not like him much, but when the elephant went on its rampage they were quick to call on him. What seemed like is should have been an easy task for the officer to do was harder than he ever could have imagined when he can face to face with it. When the

One day something happened which 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 real motives for which despotic governments act. Early one morning the sub-inspector at a police station the other end of the town rang me up on the phone and said that an elephant was ravaging the bazaar. Would I please come and do something about it? I did not know what I could do, but I wanted to see what was happening and I got on to a pony and started out. I took my rifle, an old .44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might be useful in terrorem. Various Burmans stopped me on the way and told me about the elephant 's doings. It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’. It had been chained up, as tame elephants always are when