Rhetorical Analysis Of George Orwell's 'Shooting An Elephant'

“To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eye of others” (Criss Jami). To appear positive to some people, they have to appear negative to others. Each person has his or her own opinion; therefore, just because he or she satisfies a person, does not mean the others agree with them too. For example, in “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the speaker ponders whether he should kill the elephant to please the people. Whether he shoots it or not, not everyone would be pleased with his decision.In addition, the speaker of “Shooting an Elephant” is a sub-divisional police officer and a lot of people hate him, thus leading him wanting to please the people by shooting the elephant. Orwell persuades the readers that under imperialism both parties suffer. The author accomplishes his purpose through shifts in verb tense, reflective tone, and specific details to assert authority; metaphor and analogy to demonstrate logic; and a self-deprecating tone, direct reader address, and colloquial language to establish an emotional connection with the audience. Orwell’s shifts in verb tense evoke a …show more content…
Orwell establishes authority through reflective tone, and specific details; logic through metaphor and analogy; and emotional connection through self-deprecating tone, direct reader address, and colloquial language. Orwell’s rhetoric conveys how the imperialism lacks power and how the Burmese people are the oppressors. Through Orwell’s claim, it proves that having power is not as great as it appears to be. Additionally, we are blinded by the stereotypical knowledge about imperialism which is imperialism is tyranny, when in fact, the are the ones being oppressed. In essence, power is just an illusion people believes to be a great thing to possess because people often think that people who has power are always