Shooting An Elephant Imperialism

One innocent man was put on the spot and no one would have expected this to happen. A poor man in lower Burma had to make a vital decision whether he should bend the rules of his British peers or to follow his own heart. Throughout “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell attains many main accomplishments. At first he shows us his personal experience while he stayed in Burma. This story was full of metaphors which pointed out the main themes. The elephant is a metaphor for many things like the man's job, the british empire and the native people.
He used the metaphor of the elephant to describe what Burma looked like while it was under the British Imperialism. Imperialism is a policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically. Imperialism is a kingdom of mind to many because it’s miles fuelled through the arrogance of superiority. The british officer acts a symbol of the imperial country and the elephant is the victim of imperialism. They did not know this, but both of them together turned it into an attack on the evils of …show more content…
The elephant represents the “stricken, shrunken; immensely old” countries that have been invaded and conquered by imperialism. While the Burmese people represents its helpless people. The elephant was once so great but much like the imperial nations, they may be both ruled with the aid of superiors. The elephant and the Burmese people become “powerless to move and yet powerless to die” under the hands of the man. Orwell was left with two decisions, to shoot the elephant or not to shoot. He was faced with a real glimpse of imperialism reasons which are used. When he killed the elephant he joined ranks with the imperialists. The British always felt that they had control over the Burmese but in fact the Burmese had control over the british