A Rhetorical Analysis of “Shooting an Elephant”
Caught between a rock and a hard place Mr. George Orwell is in “Shooting an Elephant”. Orwell’s features an entertaining and informative style of the characters and how they feel tend to draw us into Burma. Orwell utilizes the use of ethos throughout the story making you sympathize with the main character. In "Shooting an Elephant", Orwell tries to gain the sympathy of the Burman folk by expressing his feelings as an English man in Burma, yet he fails to convey to the Burmese his intentions, troubled with his morals, and showing a sense of tenderness to the dying Elephant.
In his short story, Orwell sets up the scene with his main character and his dilemma: he’s an English officer in Burma, a foreign country, and a large number of the members hate him. He says so himself in the first paragraph, “… I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I had been important enough for this to happen to me” (p.472). As we read to find out more about this character and why he is hated so; we are pulled into Burma as if we are there ourselves as a bystander. Orwell continues by expressing the hatred the Burmese folk showed the English officers: an English woman alone would be spat at with betel juice, tripped on the football field without consequence, as well as insults and …show more content…
Although the elephant in question had run amuck through town Orwell felt strong that – “…it would be murder to shoot him” (p. 475). He knew that by shooting him a large part of profit would be destroyed along with him. With his morals pulling him one way, the Burmese people are pulling him the other way. They want him to shoot the menace - consequences be damned. Once he shot the elephant opinions were divided. The English opinions were divided and the owner of the elephant was
Caught between a rock and a hard place Mr. George Orwell is in “Shooting an Elephant”. Orwell’s features an entertaining and informative style of the characters and how they feel tend to draw us into Burma. Orwell utilizes the use of ethos throughout the story making you sympathize with the main character. In "Shooting an Elephant", Orwell tries to gain the sympathy of the Burman folk by expressing his feelings as an English man in Burma, yet he fails to convey to the Burmese his intentions, troubled with his morals, and showing a sense of tenderness to the dying Elephant.
In his short story, Orwell sets up the scene with his main character and his dilemma: he’s an English officer in Burma, a foreign country, and a large number of the members hate him. He says so himself in the first paragraph, “… I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I had been important enough for this to happen to me” (p.472). As we read to find out more about this character and why he is hated so; we are pulled into Burma as if we are there ourselves as a bystander. Orwell continues by expressing the hatred the Burmese folk showed the English officers: an English woman alone would be spat at with betel juice, tripped on the football field without consequence, as well as insults and …show more content…
Although the elephant in question had run amuck through town Orwell felt strong that – “…it would be murder to shoot him” (p. 475). He knew that by shooting him a large part of profit would be destroyed along with him. With his morals pulling him one way, the Burmese people are pulling him the other way. They want him to shoot the menace - consequences be damned. Once he shot the elephant opinions were divided. The English opinions were divided and the owner of the elephant was