Brutal Honesty Hits the Unsuspecting Mark The memorial account George Orwell details, of his confrontation with an elephant gone mad, in his essay, Shooting An Elephant (1946) is engaging and thought provoking. Born in 1903, in Bengal, India to a British Colonial civil servant, Orwell states in his most powerful essay against imperialism, “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys,” (Orwell, 1946, para.7). In a disarmingly musing, sort of style, Orwell makes his point. that in order to maintain illegitimate power when largely outnumbered; he acted according to normative social influence rather than dictates of conscience. Knowing the crowd did not like him and never would, but He, the elephant and the “sea of yellow faces,” (Orwell, 1946, para.6), are all actors in the precarious theater that, “the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East,” (Orwell, 1946, para.7), has created. Clearly his predicament included concern for his own safety as he could easily be trampled to death if the animal charged at him. Furthermore, the pressing will of the jeering crowd to entertain them cornered him as the spectacle of the moment if he succeeded in felling the elephant or the laughing stock of the town if he failed. Of course there was also the owner of the elephant, who being absent from the scene, would inevitably be furious at losing the working elephant’s strength at his disposal. Quickly assessing all his options Orwell realized he had to shoot the elephant. Recognizing the pachyderm as the innocent victim of the situation, he clearly did not wan to shoot him, but the crowd’s expectations prevailed. The spectators, his subjects, expected him to be in control of the situation and were looking forward to the meat the dead animal would provide. “A sahib has got to act like a sahib,” (Orwell, 1946, para.7), as the natives referred to himself and any other European officers. Lying down on the ground to take aim he shot in the wrong spot to kill the elephant in the most humane way possible. The slow agonizing death of the elephant took a whole At the beginning of his essay, once again in painfully honest fashion, he mentions stinking prisons, scarred backsides and sullen faces, all images that are an indelible memory for him of what totalitarian regimes include. His pattern of development is chronological and his use of language is graphic. For example he says that on the one hand he was secretly for the Burmese people and against their oppressors, and yet as a European he was oppressed by them in, “an aimless and petty kind of way,” (Orwell, 1946, para.1). His description of the Burmese shoppers at the bazaar is one of cruel, cowardly subversion when he says that if a European woman were to shop alone, “somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress,” (Orwell, 1946, para.1). Orwell also recounts being jeered at, insulted, tripped up while playing soccer, yelled at and laughed at, simply because he was European. Consequently, Orwell says all this treatment “got badly on my nerves,” (Orwell, 1946, para.1). He describes his feelings of having an, “intolerable sense of guilt,” (Orwell, 1946, para.2) as part of the ruling class. However in contrast he also harbored the desire to skewer his oppressors, the worst of which were the Buddhist
Orwell, George. “Shooting an Elephant.” Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. Ed. Sonia Orwell. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1950. 3-12.
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
In “Shooting an Elephant,” from The Seagull Reader: Essays, George Orwell explains about his time as a police officer in Moulmein, Lower Burma when an elephant turned loose in the village. He knew that from the start he “had no intention of shooting the elephant” (246), but as he starts his search for the elephant, the Burmans tell him that the elephant trampled a person to death. As Orwell continues his quest to find the elephant, a crowd joins his side. Soon, he finds the elephant doing no harm but knows he must shoot the elephant because the Burmans would think of him as a fool if he didn’t. Finally, Orwell goes against his morals and shoots the elephant five times causing the elephant to have a slow, painful death. The author’s key point
“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 quest for power is one which has been etched into the minds of men throughout history. However, it can be said that true power is not a result of one’s actions but comes from the following one’s own beliefs without being influenced by others. This principle sets up the story for Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. The protagonist, Orwell himself, is a sub divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. Orwell must try to find and use his inner power when he is faced with the decision of whether or not to kill an elephant which has ravaged the Burman’s homes. The state of power established through the imperialistic backdrop show that Orwell, as a colonist, should be in control. As well, the perspective and ideas given by Orwell show his true character and lessen the overall power set up for him. Lastly, the symbols shown are representations of traditional forms of power, but take on different implications in the story. In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses setting, characterization and symbols to show that true power comes from following the dictates of one’s conscience.
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.
A police officer in the British Raj, the supposedly 'unbreakable'; ruling force, was afraid. With his gun aimed at a elephant's head, he was faced with the decision to pull the trigger. That officer was George Orwell, and he writes about his experience in his short story, 'Shooting an Elephant';. To save face, he shrugged it off as his desire to 'avoid looking the fool'; (George Orwell, 283). In truth, the atmosphere of fear and pressure overwhelmed him. His inner struggle over the guilt of being involved in the subjugation of a people added to this strain, and he made a decision he would later regret enough to write this story.
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.
When he finial find the elephant Orwell say “I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” But when he lays his eyes on the crowd he changes his stance to “but I did not want to shoot the elephant.”(Orwell 199). He felt guilty for shooting the elephant when he describe that the elephant worth more alive than dead, but despite the many reason not to shoot the elephant, he took a shot. Orwell describes “when I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick …I fired again into the same spot…I fired a third time. That was the shot that did it for him.”(199) the shooting of the elephant represent the Burma people trying to stay alive and over powering by the
From the beginning of the narrative “Shooting An Elephant,” George Orwell creates a character with a diminished sense of self. The character narrates, “I was hated by large numbers of people -- the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me” (Orwell, 58). All he wants is attention and it is evident that even negative attention is better than being ignored. He hates working for the British as a sub-divisional police officer in the town of Moulmein. He even makes it known to the audience that, “Theoretically -- and secretly, of course -- I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British” (58). The character knows he does not want to be in this position, as a Anglo-Indian
In the end we see how a person can make a decision against his own better judgment to please a stereotype. The officer had to make the decision of shooting the elephant because if he didn't the reputation of every white man would have been ruined. The power of imperialism would be obsolete, and the fear that the native people had for the white men would have been gone as well. Trying to fit into a mold or "mask" that does not fit you only brings about more problems than it would if you were you're true self.
In colonial Burma, the foreign, British minority ruled the large, local majority. In this setting, the British demonstrated its dominance and power through its gruesome treatment of the Burmese. Orwell described the locals as having “cowed faces” and “scarred buttocks” from Britain’s “unbreakable tyranny”. This exemplifies the typical imperialistic state- an oppressor and an oppressed. However, Orwell’s depiction of imperialism goes deeper than such a simplistic view. Orwell, who
...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.
Orwell?s extraordinary style is never displayed well than through ?Shooting an Elephant,? where he seemingly blends his style and subject into one. The story deals with a tame elephant that all of a sudden turns bad and kills a black Dravidian coolie Indian. A policeman kills this elephant through his conscience because the Indians socially pressurized him greatly. He justified himself as he had killed elephant as a revenge for coolie.