Rhetorical Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

George Orwell, an ardent opponent of endemic social inequality, records in his persuasive essay Shooting an Elephant a life changing moment that discloses far more than just shooting an elephant. In his essay Orwell eloquently describes the scene of killing an elephant and articulates the sensations he feels during the brief yet emotional event. Orwell utilizes a myriad of literary techniques to convey the situational ironical presentation of imperialism. Orwell objective is to convince his audience, the working class of Britain, that imperialism both has a negative impact on those governed and degrades those exercising their power. First and foremost Orwell begins to describe the atmosphere of Moulmein, Burma in order to set the scene for

At this point the only way one would know about the elephant, is through the destruction left in its wake such as how the elephant “destroyed someone’s bamboo hut,” how it overturned a “municipal rubbish van,” and a “Dravidian coolie” that could “not have been dead many minutes.”(Orwell). Henceforth the ambiguity grants the readers to paint a picture of the elephant until its unveiling. From Orwell’s description of elephant, the reader can only surmise that the elephant is terrifying rampaging beast that needs to be put down coinciding with the “two thousand wills”(Orwell) forcing Orwell forward to kill the elephant. Unbeknownst to the reader and younger Orwell at the time, the elephant was merely going through must, a seasonal frenzied state of mind of male elephants, and typically is far calmer. However, without knowing this information just like Orwell, one would be taken aback by Orwell’s description of the elephant. Although Orwell insinuates that the Orwell is a ghastly beast by describing the carcass of one of the elephant’s victims mangled bodies lying with its “arms crucified” with an “expression of unendurable agony;”(Orwell) nevertheless he is quick to juxtapose the elephant's rampage to how the elephant really is by describing the serenity as it was “peacefully eating” with a “grandmotherly air.” In contrast with the elephant’s aforementioned bloodlust, the elephant was also depicted as taking not the “slightest notice” of Orwell and “the crowd’s