Shooting an Elephant Essay Shooting An Elephant Essay Shooting An Elephant Shooting An Elephant Shooting An Elephant Shooting An Elephants

1. Shooting an Elephant Essay
In his essay, Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell illustrates his experiences as a British police
officer, and reflects it to the nature of imperialism. He hates his job as a police officer in Moulmein
because an "anti–European feeling was very bitter" due to British Empire's dictatorship in Burma.
Therefore, Orwell, a white man is being treated disrespectfully by the Burmese which allows him to
hate his job and British Empire, the root of everything. However, the incident of shooting of an
elephant gives him a "better glimpse ... of the real nature of imperialism – the real motives for which
despotic government act" (13). In order to express the effects of imperialism, Orwell illustrates this
"enlightening" incidence by using various...show more content...
When Orwell was followed by thousands of Burmese, he says, "seemingly the leading actor of
the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow
faces behind" (15). He calls himself "puppet" to indicate that even an oppressor loses his freedom
and has to live under pressure when imperialism takes place in the society. Orwell also establishes
particular effects in his essay by using different sentence structures. He describes the picture of, "To
come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail
feebly away, having done nothing – no, that was impossible" (15). The parallel phrases are used in
this passage to recap the whole situation but the sudden usage of anacoluthon in the end of the
link allows Orwell show how much Orwell is pressurized and indicates reads that there is no way
for Orwell to leave the elephant alive after coming to this stage of the situation. Orwell again uses
the parallel phrases to describe the effects on an elephant after the first shot: "In that instant, in too
short a time, one would have thought, even for the bullet to get there, a mysterious, terrible change
had come over the elephant" (16). This structure intensifies the shock and reaction in readers and
helps Orwell to prove what it takes for one decision. The lack of grammatical sequence is used when
Orwell goes out to kill
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2. Shooting An Elephant Essay
The story that my evaluation will be based on is Shooting an Elephant written in 1936. The
author George Orwell was born in 1903 in India to a British officer raised in England. He attended
Eton College, which introduced him to England's middle and upper classes. He was denied a
scholarship, which led him to become a police officer for the Indian Imperial in 1922. He served in
Burma until resigning in 1927 due to the lack of respect for the justice of British Imperialism in
Burma and India. He was now determined to become a writer, so at the brink of poverty he began
to pay close attention to social outcasts and laborers. This led him to write Down and Out in Paris
and London (1933) during the Spanish Civil War. He embodied his hate for...show more content...
As he walked on to locate the elephant the realization that the whole town was watching and
waiting for him to make his move was very apparent. The officer came across the elephant eating
in a clearing and felt at ease that the animal was finished with his path of destruction. He glanced
around him and realized that he would be forced to kill the animal. The town's people disliked
him greatly, but with a weapon and the ability to kill the wild beast the quickly changed their
opinion about the officer. Although the elephant was harmless at this point, the officer fell into
the trap of peer pressure and felt obligated to terminate the animal's life. He walked as close to the
elephant as he could without startling it and pulled the trigger. George Orwell then goes on to
describe in great detail the horrible death that the elephant experienced. I liked the message of this
story, but I did not care for the way that the author chose to present it. The message was very clear
in that there was a common problem between people in general and certain races in the mid–thirties.
The message was that even though peers may expect something of them it is not always the right
thing to do. This is displayed in the paragraph at the top of page 683 and continues until the middle
of the page. The main character mentions right before he shoots the elephant the first time that "
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3. Shooting An Elephant
The story, "Shooting an Elephant", is very descriptive and intriguing. George Orwell, the author,
uses small words throughout this story that get the audience's attention. He even has different lines
that readers remember when the title is spoken of. Because he is so thorough in the plot taking
place, the audience has an opportunity to feel as if they were there and saw everything that has
happened. George Orwell's stylistic choices related to pace, tone, and character development enable
him to be successful. The author's stylistic choice related to pace allows him to be successful. At the
beginning of "Shooting an Elephant", he starts off with a slow, dry topic, but he said something
about a corpse grinning. The man died in a painful way, but Orwell still described him as having a
grin on his face because his mouth was opened. Because he wrote of a man feeling pressure to do
something he didn't want to, he became relatable to his audience. This allowed him to be more
successful because people naturally enjoy something/someone they can relate with. By killing an
elephant, he portrayed giving into what the people around him wanted. Often, the nature of man
gives into the pressure they feel, and this made him successful in this story....show more content...
Throughout the story, he made it known that he didn't want to shoot the elephant, and his attitude
never changed from that. He also seemed to be depressed in the story because he felt pressure to
do what he didn't want to. He continues to be depressed because he followed through with what
the crown wanted him to do. The author also was worried in the middle of the story because he
didn't want the crowd to put him down if he decided not to kill the elephant. The entire tone of the
story was overall gloomy, and there wasn't any happiness except for when the crowd's wants were
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4. Shooting An Elephant
People do not always do what is right. Sometimes, they stray from the path that is laid out in front
of them. George Orwell shines light on this topic. In his story Shooting an Elephant, Orwell talks
about being a British police officer in Burma. The Burmese people really didn't like the British
people at this time. The entire time the British occupied this Island, there was a power struggle. In
George Orwell's narrative essay Shooting an Elephant, the three main messages are imperialism, peer
pressure, and fear.
The first message in George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant is imperialism. Imperialism is when a
strong country takes over a weaker country and runs it. This is what the British did to Burma.
Throughout the story there is a constant power struggle between the Burmese and the British. At
the beginning of the story it looks like the British hold all the power. But, at the end of the story the
reader realises that the Burmese people actually hold all the power. He did not want to make the
people with the power angry.
In Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, the second message is peer pressure. Peer pressure is
often related to hormone–crazed teens who don't know how to control their emotions. This is not
always the case. The British police officer knows that he should not shoot the...show more content...
Fear can make people do things that they would not normally do. People who are driven by fear
are people who can do anything. The elephant is afraid so he tramples over houses and people.
The police officer is afraid that the Burmese will laugh at him if he does not shoot the elephant.
This fear eats him alive until he does something he knows he will regret. Orwell says on page
1324, "For at that moment, with the crowd watching me, I was not afraid in the ordinary sense, as
I would have been if I had been alone." Fear is the driving force for people to do unforgettable
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5. Shooting An Elephant
The story of Shooting an Elephant is a short story that shows the internal struggle of a man who
tries to figure out for himself if he values self respect more or others respect more. The main
character is a European who works for the sub–divisional police in South East Asia. He is stationed
in Burma where, even though he hates the people, he hopes the Burmese win the war. Hatred for the
Burmese people is fueled by their mocking him and treatment towards him with absolutely no respect
and little regard. In addition, even though the man shoots the elephant, he earlier stated that he had
absolutely no resolve in him to shoot the elephant. His decision to not kill the elephant comes
crumbling down when he realizes the Burmese will take notice of him if he shoots the elephant.
Why would he care about what the Burmese thought of him if they hated him anyway? This is
because his hatred for the Burmese is little in comparison to how much he wishes for respect and
recognition. The...show more content...
In the very first paragraph of the story the character tells of his experience on a football field. He
stated that "when a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another
Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter" (Orwell 1). The character
also recounts of other experiences he has where "insults hooted after me when I was at a safe
distance" (Orwell 1). In his own words the character describes how he feels about these situations.
He states how the Burman's actions badly got on his nerves. He explains how overwhelming and
upsetting his job makes him, so much so that he wants to quit. It is important to note the characters
perception of the Burmese because it shows that his rancor towards them does not affect his longing
for respect. This is a basic point that helps set up the story to show what the characters
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6. Shooting An Elephants
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
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