Theme Of Imperialism In Shooting An Elephant

Missing the Mark in “Shooting an Elephant” The 1920s was a time that saw the last vestiges of the often clichéd “empire on which the sun never sets” slowly fade away. Great Britain – which had long-dominated the global political environment – was a dying empire, and the British people were beginning to notice. In “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell offers an eloquent criticism of British imperialism and capitalist society. Orwell does so in a fascinating account of an incident that occurred during his time as a member of the British Indian Imperial Police in Burma between 1922 and 1927. Although Orwell clearly does point out that the imperialist system with which he was involved was flawed, he fails to fully recognize that the underlying causes of the inequality and social dysfunction were capitalism and imperialism, rather than poor administrative tactics or the failures of British “oppressors.” By assuming the attitude that the British Empire was simply one in a series that was “a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it,” Orwell inadvertently reveals that he believes that there is a “right way” to go about oppressing a people through imperialism. …show more content…
This particular elephant had escaped from its handler, and was terrorizing the native Burmans, “ravaging the bazaar” and ultimately killing one of the natives. Orwell goes on to provide a detailed account of his decision-making process that eventually resulted in Orwell feeling compelled to shoot the elephant by the natives. He expresses guilt at his inability to resist the natives’ wishes to shoot the elephant, and uses the story as a way to demonstrate the trivial nature of imperialist