Shooting An Elephant

Improved Essays
George Orwell uses first person narrative, irony, and the story as a whole in both a hanging and shooting an elephant in order to challenge a part of his society that he opposed. In the 1920's George Orwell was an officer in the British Indian imperial police force. He wrote Shooting an Elephant so that people would understand how imperialism was bad for both the people being colonized and the people doing the colonizing. The story takes place in Burma and at the time Burma was controlled by the British government. There was an incident where an elephant broke free from its owner and went on a rampage destroying things and even killing a person. The narrator was called to deal with the situation and in the end he ended up killing the elephant. However, the narrator did not necessarily want to kill the elephant. He was put in a tough …show more content…
This is a huge aspect of the story because it gives the readers insight to what the narrator is thinking. It made it oblivious that imperialism ultimately controlled him and his actions. Through the first person narrative we know that he only brought a gun for protection, if the elephant was still out of control. We also know that when he saw the elephant he had no intention of shooting it because it wasn't doing any harm. Then we see the narrator being pressured into taking the elephants life because he notices that all of the natives are expecting him to kill it. Finally, we see the narrator completely conform to the pressure that was upon him and kill the beast. None of this insight would have been possible if Orwell would have told the story from a different perspective. The readers would not have seen the narrator slowly change his mind. We wouldn't of really been able to see that he conformed to this pressure because being accepted by the native people was more important to him than taking the life of an

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    His humiliation and sense of defeatare conveyed through his compelling words. He shows the audience that through this incident, hereceives a “better glimpse than [he] had had before of the real nature of imperialism — the realmotives for which despotic governments act” (Orwell).The whole essay, with its appeals of ethosand pathos, uses of imagery, and satirical techniques, boils down to the irony between theoutward and inward appearances of a British authority figure in Burma, or any other state withinthe British sphere of influence. This irony shows how imperialism ruins everyone involved— starting from the inner core. Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    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…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Primary Source Analysis: Shooting an Elephant George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” was first published in 1936 in a literary magazine. Though it was written ten years before the United States emerged as a super power and surpassed Britain on the world stage, this essay could be viewed as an article that questioned the validity of the British Empire, as well at it’s hold on it’s citizens and the world it seemed to rule. The story is told in a first person narrative by a man who worked for the British Empire as a sub-divisional police officer in the small town of Moulmein in Burma.…

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The search for power is one which has remained in the minds of men throughout history. However, it can be alleged that true power is not an outcome of one’s actions but derives from one’s own principles without being swayed by others. This principle sets up the story for “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell. The protagonist, Orwell himself, is a sub divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. Orwell needs his inner power when he is confronted with the decision of whether or not to kill an elephant which has emaciated homes of the Burmese.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Summary & Analysis of "Shooting an Elephant" Shooting an Elephant, by George Orwell, is a complex piece of literature. The writing revolved around British imperialism and a British officer, Orwell, shooting an elephant (Orwell). The physical shooting of the elephant intertwined with British imperialism metaphorically (Orwell). Shooting an Elephant is a descriptive and intelligent piece of work, one that should be given more light to it. To begin, Geroge Orwell introduced himself as a British police officer in the town Moulmein, in the country of Burma (Orwell).…

    • 1780 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Gorge, Orwell writes about an elephant in his essay “Shooting an Elephant” where the main craters is a police man for the British emperor in one of the eastern countries. This police man has an internal power struggle with his duty and internal feelings of what he knows as right. In this country he imply about how the people there are cage and are oppressed by the British Emperor he is also concern with his duty and how the people view him. Even though the policeman is authority figure he takes on the role of the tyrant.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the text it states that Orwell was worth watching for a small period of time, he had the power to control the peoples emotional state, whether he killed the elephant or not. Similar to the rifle Orwell was a pawn. The villages controlled him in any direction they wanted to, like when they laughed at him for no reason, and when the pressure of the two-thousand people forced him to shoot the elephant, because he was afraid to upset a multitude of people. The same way Orwell had no say in things the same a rifle has no say t what it shoots, it never fails to disappoint the user.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Pathos in Shooting an Elephant "Shooting an Elephant" written in 1936 by the British writer George Orwell tells an experience of an author who shoots an elephant during the time of being a colonial police in the British colony of Burma in 1926. Orwell once said: "There is no book that does not contains political tendencies"(Orwell). His "Shooting an Elephant" is no exception. As an anti-imperialist, he uses this short story to express his opposition of colonial rule and resentment of the British Empire. "Pathos is the motivation factor"(Demırdöğen).…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    George Orwell faces multiple conflicts in Shooting an Elephant. The first is British imperialism. The British took over Burma and they are treating the natives terribly. Second, the natives aren’t taking this imperial government kindly either as they continuously mock Orwell because he’s a symbol of the government and a vulnerable “obvious target” (Orwell). Orwell hates the way the British impose their power on the Burmese.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The tone of the story changes from that of negativity to one of excitement. In the spur of the moment, the man was compelled to shoot the elephant and did not think anything of the fact.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Shooting an Elephant” his exact feelings about imperialism was that it is an “evil thing”; thus the reader knows his position right away. The story begins with a mad elephant running loose and the Burmese call on Orwell to kill the animal. Therefore, Orwell makes a troublesome decision on the hunt for the elephant. In the end, he shoots the elephant to, in a way save face from the locals. As a result, the elephant dies slowly and painfully.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Adrianna Geisler ENGL1010 Essay #1 8 Sept. 2015 Reading Response Essay for “Shooting an Elephant” In the essay “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the author is trying to show how imperialism can have strong effects on someone. In addition, Orwell describes his personal decision to shoot an elephant after the animal kills a man.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the essay “Shooting an Elephant”, it is based on a man who is pressured to kill an elephant that was thought to be wild. This adventure took place in Moulmein, in Lower Burma. Could he have saved this elephant and done what his heart wanted to do? Or was the peer pressure by others to strong? Orwell withheld the…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story of the elephant Mr. Orwell paints a picture of another type of inner conflict that he experienced while working in Burma. That is, when one knows deep inside what they should rightly do, but due to outside pressures and influences they choose another course of action. The anecdote is about an elephant that is out of control and is ravaging a village. George Orwell is called out to neutralize the situation, but he does not know what he can do to help things. When he arrived at the scene he was told the elephant got away to paddy fields a thousand yards away.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays