Coolie

as an officer in Lower Burma, where he was forced to shoot an elephant that was having an attack of must. In this story, he uses very good symbolism, including the elephant, the gun and multiple shots he fired, and a dead unskilled worker, called a coolie. In the excerpt, Orwell uses the elephant that he shot to symbolize the British Empire, the world power that he worked for but also greatly disagreed with. The British Empire was very resilient and in some cases, just like the elephant,…

looking a fool,? driven by the instigation of the Burmese (165). Orwell himself, against his will, has oppressed many Burmese. In Orwell?s case, the coolie killed by the elephant represents the invasion of Burma by the British. Just as no one can predict the next victim of the elephant, also no one can predict the next victim of the British. The murder of coolie gives Orwell a justifiable reason to kill the elephant. Orwell does not want himself to be considered as British, but he does not want…

as an imperialist, criticizes the attitude of the white-man towards the natives and ironically says “...it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie” (Orwell: 219). To the white-man the value of the elephant seems to be more than the “damn” coolie. The arguments presented makes the reader feel pity for him because he doesn’t want to disappoint the natives, but at the end it shows he fell for imperialism,…

“To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eye of others” (Criss Jami). To appear positive to some people, they have to appear negative to others. Each person has his or her own opinion; therefore, just because he or she satisfies a person, does not mean the others agree with them too. For example, in “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the speaker ponders whether he should kill the elephant to please the people. Whether he shoots it or not, not…

The police officer is “very glad the coolie had been killed.” This shows that he uses the death of the coolie to cover up his real purpose of killing the elephant. Though, many Europeans support his decision, the younger men are against him. The younger men consider the elephant to be more worthy than a coolie. The police officer solely kills the elephant to hide his fear and protect his pride. The gathering of thousands…

extent, they would be severely punished, possibly even killed. As seen in the story, the life of a Burmese meant almost nothing to the Europeans."...men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie." (p. 14) The narrator, who to an objective person at…

George Orwell was already hated by many people in Burma, and when he had stumbled upon the chance to handle the nuisance the aggressive elephant created, he saw an opportunity to redeem himself. The narrator states, “They did not like me. But with the magical rifle in my hands, I was momentarily worth watching.” (George Orwell 147). It transpires that he didn’t wish to be humiliated more or back out of the situation that was ongoing. At the moment when he was in the midst of the situation…

The Intimacies of Four Continents Précis Lowe, Lisa. The Intimacies of Four Continents. Duke University Press, 2015. In The Intimacies of Four Continents, Lowe examines the often obfuscated links between “European liberalism, settler colonialism in the Americas, the transatlantic African slave trade, and the East Indies and China trades in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,”(Lowe 1) via the archive, autobiographies, literature, and philosophy. Lowe argues that slavery,…

During the 19th century, though with a fear of racial discrimination, many Chinese chose to leave their home and immigrated to the United States. It is a very important part of U.S history as the number of Chinese immigrants grew rapidly, from about 450 Chinese in 1850 to 63,100 Chinese by 1870 which has a 81% increase from 1860. Apart from social unrest and economics pressures in China, one of the main reasons for them to immigrate to the States was to seek economics opportunities so that they…

Just like the elephant, the empire is very dominant. The murder by the elephant on the coolie, represents the British suppressing the Burmese. At the same time the dead coolie is a symbol of the oppressed Burmese. After being trodden by the elephant the coolie's arms very outstretched, "He was lying on his belly with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to one side.", just like the crucified Jesus. Also the coolie laid under a layer of mud after being trodden down. This can symbolize the…