The Role Of Imperialism In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

Shooting an Elephant is a short story written by George Orwell in 1936. Around this time, ideas pertaining to imperialism were starting to spread throughout the world. Great advances in technology lead to the immense growth in industries which sparked new ideas of international affairs. The justifications for imperialism include the ideas of Social Darwinism, economics, geopolitics, technological advances, and nationalism. George Orwell contradicts the justifications for imperialism found in the late 19th century because he opposes the British belief of Social Darwinism, where a civilized nation is destined to take over an uncivilized nation in order to 'fix' their way of life, and he believes the way that the British use their advancements …show more content…
These advancements lead to the creation of better guns and ships. The new ships helped the British Empire to travel to more territory in order to expand their empire. However, the advancements made to weapons affected the foreigners in negative ways. Once a nation was captured, the natives were sent to "huddling in the stinking cages of lock-ups" (Orwell 233). After being a part of first hand accounts of imperialism, Orwell comes to the realization that imperialism is an evil thing. There was no need for the British beat the captives and treat them like animals by locking them in cages. By mistreating the inhabitants of the Burmese territories, Orwell demonstrated how the British opposed the good-willed intentions for imperialism. Orwell also says that many of the captives have "been flogged with bamboos -- all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt" (Orwell 233). Orwell challenges the way in which the British use their technological advances. Instead of just using these new advancements to expand their territory, the British use the weapons to excessively abuse the natives who were