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Shooting an elephant by George Orwell analysis
Orwell's argument in shooting an elephant
Orwell's argument in shooting an elephant
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Jonerl maignan. Professor: Liamog English 102 6 February 2017 “Shooting an Elephant”-George Orwell, In the story “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, in the story Orwell finds himself at the mercy of a hooting crowd of Burmese villagers eager to see him shoot an elephant gone “must.” The Orwell is confronted with a moral dilemma and abandons his morals to escape the mockery of the native Burman’s. He feels compelled to shoot the animal because the Burman’s “did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching” (473). Therefore, in the story, Orwell is both a master of his dominion and a slave to the population because he was pressured to shoot the elephant. …show more content…
He knows that if he does not kill the elephant he will be laughed at and the people might disobey him. He rationalized killing the animal by saying he had to or he would look like a fool in front of the crowd. The narrator knew that was wrong to kill the elephant. He didn't want to kill it from the beginning. He had procured an elephant gun just in case he might need it. When he finally came upon the elephant, peacefully eating outside of town it no longer posed a threat. However, a large group of Burman’s had formed behind him, and they were now expecting him to kill the …show more content…
Walking closer to the elephant can get Orwell killed, or worse, some of the Burmese might laugh if that were to happen. Considering the laughter, Orwell says, "That would never do." Leaving without shooting the elephant is also not an option "A sahib has to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things," implying that the Burmese will see him as weak if he seems to change his mind about slaying the beast. The British have created a proud image that they demand the Burmese respect, but they are trapped by having to live within that image. Orwell ignores his conscience and shoots the elephant, and he compounds his sin by botching the execution. Bullets shot into the wrong spot because the poor animal to die "very slowly and in great agony." In spite of Orwell putting "shot after shot into his heart and down his throat," the elephant lives thirty minutes after its "tortured gasps" force Orwell to leave. Many years later, Orwell still seems bothered by the fact that pride, not a necessity, caused him to destroy the
Although shooting the, now seemingly calm, “mad elephant” is morally wrong to George Orwell, in his narration of Shooting an Elephant, he has to do so as he is a representative, or more so a pawn, of the British authority in the occupied country of Burma. Being such, he wages a war with his inner self to seek which decision needs to be carried out. With two outcomes in mind, one being that he will be seen as a fool if he does not shoot the elephant and the other being an authority of the law by truly showing it and protecting the villagers, he has an epiphany. With such an authority, the law and someone’s moral conscience diverge. He then realizes what must be done and shoots the elephant to protect the imperialistic authority. As the excitement
“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell demonstrates one man's moralistic battle between his own belief of preservation of life against that of the crowd of natives which spur him to kill the beast. The author is incited in his actions by the large, unanimous crowd looming eagerly behind him. The sheer size of the group of Burmese natives can create an illusion of strength in numbers that can be hard to fight. The author knew, on one hand, that the conclusion to shoot the beast is immoral, however, from a social standpoint, agreement with the group meant survival in their territory. Failure to comply with what is expected could result in punishment in the form of embarrassment. The author writes “to come all that way, rifle in ...
The essay “Shooting an Elephant,” was written by George Orwell. Orwell was a British author best known for his essays and novels. In “Shooting an Elephant,” the title essay of his 1950 collection, Orwell is a British Police Officer in Lower Burma. After an elephant comes rampaging through the village in must, killing an Indian man, Orwell is looked upon to take care of the problem. The intense scene causes Orwell to make a crucial decision, reflecting on the vicious imperialism with the military in Burma during this time. The author portrays his feelings through the theme of the narrative with feelings such as, guilt, hate, and pressured.
In this story ,Orwell is taking part in imperialism by proving his power and dignity to the natives presenting imperialism metaphorically through the use of animals. He is using the elephant as a symbol of imperialism representing power as an untamed animal that has control over the village. He uses a large and very powerful animal to represent a significant metaphor for imperialism.. In doing so he leads to the understanding that the power behind imperialism is only as strong as its dominant rulers. Orwell?s moral values are challenged in many different ways, ironically enough while he too was the oppressor. He is faced with a very important decision of whether or not he should shoot the elephant. If he does so, he will be a hero to his people. In turn, he would be giving in to the imperial force behind the elephant that he finds so unjust and evil. If he lets the elephant go free and unharmed the natives will laugh at him and make him feel inferior for not being able to protect the...
Every day, each individual will look back on decisions he or she have made and mature from those experiences. Though it takes time to realize these choices, the morals and knowledge obtained from them are priceless. In George Orwell’s nonfictional essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, a young Orwell was stationed in Burma for the British imperial forces, tasked to deal with an elephant who destroyed various parts of the village Moulmein while its owner was away. Backed by second thoughts and a crowd of thousands, he finds himself shooting the elephant and reflecting that it was not justified; however, it was a choice pushed by his duty and the people. Written with a fusion of his young and old self’s outlook on shooting the elephant, Orwell’s essay is a sensational read that captivates his audience and leaves them questioning his decision.
One day he receives a call from an officer on the other side of town reporting that an elephant in heat had broken free and that assistance was required. Young Orwell grabs his winchester rifle, knowing that it wouldn't be powerful enough to kill the elephant, and heads for the other side of town. Upon reaching the quarter where the elephant had last been seen, he finds the fresh corpse of an Indian man. Within minutes villagers gather around the body and tell Orwell the elephant went into the rice fields below them. Orwell sends an Indian officer to fetch an elephant gun from a friend, although he doesn’t plan on killing the elephant.
Here George Orwell is a police officer in one of the districts of Moulmein. One day, he is told of an Elephant that has escaped from its master and is in “Must”, which is basically a testosterone fueled rampage. He tracks down the elephant and eventually shoots it many times to try and put him out of his misery, but to no avail. Later on, he is pardoned for killing the domestic elephant because it had killed a man, but the real reason he shot it is because he did not want to look like a fool in front of the “coolies”. The most main point of this essay, though it may get lost in the action, is that even though he is in a position of power he is actually at the will of the Burmese people.
The whole incident for the natives was a piece of fun and they wanted the author to kill the animal for meat. They were watching him as a “conjurer [was] about to perform a trick” [439]. The author was afraid of the humiliation and got under the oppression the public as “ I[He] realize that I[He] should have to shoot the elephant after
Orwell struggles to find himself, but he does find himself by growing into his mask, and since he did not like the mask he grew into, he decided to find a different one. Shooting an elephant is an essay that George Orwell had written about his work in India as a British Officer. George Orwell talks about what it is like working near the prisons and seeing “the workings of imperialism” up close. Orwell speaks about how the Burmese feel about the British being there, and how he, himself feels about the British presence. There seems to be an alignment of dislike towards the oppressors in this case, the oppressors being the British.
As he goes to find and approach the elephant, all of the frightened civilians follow closely behind and are anxiously anticipating for him to kill the elephant that has caused them all of this danger. Once he finally finds the elephant, he sees him grazing in a field innocently and peacefully, as his fit of “must” had passed, and was now simply waiting for its master to find him and guide him home. At this point in the story, the suspense and dread hits Orwell’s audience hard, as the young policeman is torn between whether or not he should kill this elephant because it has both taken and endangered lives, and if he lets all the people in the village down for not killing it, he will be mocked and laughed at by the people, and very likely be reprimanded for not doing the “right thing”. But on the other hand, the elephant is still only an animal that didn’t know any better, and the policeman feels that he should wait until the elephant’s master can find him and retrieve the
He describes, “I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro” (60). He is dealing with the internal conflicts of who he should align with: himself, the British, or the Burmese. If he were to acknowledge his beliefs and align with himself, he could be the start of an uprise. Surely, others would follow. He even confirms his “thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny” and says, “Ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you catch him off duty,” referring to the hatred of the English empire (58). By expressing his dislike for the British, Orwell is finally attempting to stand up for his beliefs. The fact that his character is unable to execute his beliefs, though, highlights him trying to not look foolish in the presence of others. Clearly, he is in an unbearable circle of self-deprecation and doubt. By the end of the narrative, Orwell’s character regrets his decision to shoot the elephant. This ultimately represents Orwell’s uncertainty as he goes through life. He, like all of us, is struggling to predict which path is the best for him to go down as he ventures through his existence. Because of this, his actions for shooting the elephant are justified. He is just trying to accomplish all that he can while simultaneously dealing with his own questions of identity. This allows Orwell to be seen as a humble individual who is just trying
Orwell’s thoughts, emotions and actions in this story reinforce its primary theme: Take responsibility for your actions. In the opening lines of Shooting an Elephant, one main internal conflict was introduced. The imperial army had taken control of the Burmese
The symbolic story in the Shooting an Elephant is an attack towards imperialism. Orwell presents the ironic truth that imperialism benefits neither the imperialist nor the countries they colonize. It is perhaps sad to see that men were once willing to buy in to the fraudulent and ephemeral glory that imperialism have offered. Hopefully, men have learned their lessons and no other animal will be sacrificed for men's greed.
...o the wrong spot cause the poor animal to die "very slowly and in great agony." In spite of Orwell putting "shot after shot into his heart and down his throat," the elephant lives thirty minutes after its "tortured gasps" force Orwell to leave. Many years later, Orwell still seems bothered by the fact that pride, not necessity, caused him to destroy the animal.
Morally, I think this story clearly states that people would do anything to avoid being embarrassed. From my understanding, I think that this story teaches us that we should be open to hear people?s opinions but we should follow our instincts. We should not allow others to make the decisions for us. The police officers just shoot the elephant because people wanted him to do so. This essay is trying to help us to see that we should look at the pros and cons of an issue rather than making a quick decision that can affect someone. I cannot condemn the author for shooting the elephant, though he knew it was wrong. Nor can I condemn him for giving in to the natives and not sticking to his guns. He does not want to appear foolish to others like all of us do.