Brief Study Of George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant
Brief Study of George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant
Based on physics science, everything which moves in this world definitely needs time to travel from one place to another. The time is affected by distance, the amount of space between two things, which will determine whether the travel from one place to another will take a long time or a short one. The connection between time and distance will create velocity, the speed which is generated by something when it is moving through a distance in a certain time between two places. In other words, velocity, distance, and time are connected to each other, thus if there any amount change in one of those three element, it will affect to the other two. Besides happening in the real life as a physics …show more content…
law, velocity, distance, and time is also happening in a story. However, there are several things that distinguish both of them. The distance in the real life is usually measured by meter or mile, but in a story, the distance is measured by how many word that is written to describe one scene in the story. The amount of word that is written to describe one scene in the story will affect the velocity of the story itself. Hence, the more word that is written by the writer to describe one particular event in the story, the slower the velocity of the story will become, also, the more the reader will know and understand the situation and the storyline of the story. It also gives a strong description of one scene, thus will prevent any gap between one occurrence to another that will make any misinterpretation by the reader. Moreover, it can omit any ambiguity of the story meaning. On the other hand, the less word needed to describe one particular event in the story, the faster the velocity of the story will become, also, the less the reader will know and understand the situation and the storyline of the story. It is as well will give a weak description of one scene, hence will make many possibilities of misinterpretation by the reader. It will also increase the possibility of ambiguity of the story meaning. It is very obvious that in the essay entitled Shooting an Elephant which is written by George Orwell, the velocity in the early paragraph is fairly quick as the writer only explains what role the protagonist is playing and how the situation of the story is going in the essay. However, as soon as the story gets to the couple of last paragraph, the velocity of the story become slower, slower, and slower, since the writer tries to tell the reader of what the protagonist is thinking about the situation that he faced. The protagonist has to consider any possibility that will happen if the protagonist chooses one option. The essay is mostly about a man who faces a dilemma. He has to choose one of the two options which he merely has. The conflict of the story is mostly located within the protagonist’s mind which explains that the essay is using the first-person point of view. It makes the reader to be more attached to the protagonist’s feeling, emotion, and mindset when he encounters a problem in the story. This kind of narrative is known as interior monologue. Furthermore, the protagonist has to decide whether he has to follow what people wanted to see or to follow his moral belief. The protagonist also tells the reader about what consequences that he will get if he choose one option. He as well gives various reasons to justify the option he chose. It seems that this story is focusing on how the protagonist solves his problem. The essay which is written by George Orwell can be considered as an essay that criticizes the British Empire imperialism that try to expand their territory by conquering various nations, as in this story, Burma. As already written above, the essay begins with an explanation of what role the protagonist is playing in the essay. The protagonist is a police officer in Burma.
“I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it.” From the passage above, it seems that the occurrence is happening in the imperialism age as it is written that the British is still an empire. In addition, Imperialism age is the age when the British Empire spread his territorial by taking over various nations and builds colonies in it. Moreover, the protagonist is also one of many Europeans who lives in that country and is hated by the native. Even though he is an Englishman, he actually thinks that imperialism is an evil thing which theoretically means that he is siding with the Burmese and against their oppressors, the British. He also feels guilty because of what he and his empire had done to the native.
“For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically – and secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” In short, one day, there is an elephant which is rampaging in the city. It had already took someone life who has a life to live and family to take care. It also had destroyed someone’s bamboo hut which make the owner of the hut has no place anymore to live. Moreover, the elephant had also raided some food stalls and devoured its stock which makes the owners of the fruit stalls will suffer because his economic source is destroyed. In addition, the elephant had as well wrecked the government rubbish van which caused a financial loss for the government. The protagonist is called to the scene in order to overcome the problem. He brought an elephant rifle which is made by Germany in order to defend himself if the situation goes south. The native who sees him carrying a rifle and walking toward the elephant is following him with excitement. The native wanted to see the protagonist kills the elephant. However, he actually has no intention to kill the elephant. He is faced between two options. The first option is not to kill the elephant and follow his moral belief. It is shown in the passage:
“Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large animal.”
There is also a passage mentioning that the protagonist does not want to kill the elephant and also, this passage explains the reason of why the protagonist carries an elephant rifle to the scene.
“I had no intention of shooting the elephant – I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary – and it is always unnerving to have a crowd following you.”
The second option is, because he is an Englishman, hence he must not be frightened in front of the native and shoot the elephant to death.
“A white man mustn 't be frightened in front of "natives"; and so, in general, he isn 't frightened.” After several minutes thinking about what option he ought to choose, he finally chooses the second option.
It needs three shots from the protagonist to kill the elephant. It is also can be interpreted that the nation which is oppressed by another nation, Burma, is symbolized with the elephant, while the oppressor, the British, is symbolized with the officer who shoots the elephant to death. The three shots as well are symbolizing the attempts of the British Empire to conquer Burma. There are three wars that happen between British Empire and Burma before the British Empire successfully gain its control over Burma. The three wars are known as the Anglo-Burmese Wars. The war begins in 1824 and ends in 1885.
“When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick – one never does when a shot goes home – but I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd.”
The passage symbolizes the first attempt of British Empire to conquer Burma which is also known as the first Anglo-Burmese War that took place during 1824–1826.
“I fired again into the same spot. At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head
drooping.”
The passage symbolizes the second attempt of British Empire to conquer Burma which is also known as the second Anglo-Burmese War that took place during 1852 to 1853.
“I fired a third time. That was the shot that did for him. You could see the agony of it jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant of strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree.”
The passage symbolizes the third and the last attempt of British Empire to conquer Burma which is also known as the third Anglo-Burmese War that took place during 1885 to 1886. The last war is successfully won by the British and it is finally can totally rule Burma. The Burmese sovereignty and independence is completely wiped out by the British. This occurrence is the same when the officer shoots the elephant for the third time which finally makes the elephant meet its doom. Afterwards, this occurrence divides the Europeans opinion. The first opinion is made by the older men. They say that what protagonist did is right for the reason that the elephant has killed a civilian and caused so much destruction, hence it must be executed. In some nation in the world, when someone kills a man, he or she, as a consequence, must be executed as well. Therefore, the elephant should not get a different reaction. It has to take the consequence of killing a man. It has done so much destruction to the city. Moreover, when the elephant is killed, the native is immediately running toward the elephant. It is shown in the passage:
“I got up. The Burmans were already racing past me across the mud.”
They are trying to get as much meat as they can get from the elephant. It can be represented that when the elephant is killed, its meat can become very useful to give the hunger something to eat. Therefore, when the protagonist decides to kill the elephant, it is not only will end the terrible terror, but its meat can also help the native to overcome their hunger. War always makes a lot of destruction to the nation which is defeated by another nation. At that time, Burma is the country which is defeated by another nation, the British Empire. Many Burmese live in sorrow and agony as their country is defeated. Their economy, government, and law are controlled by the great empire from across the sea, British Empire. Many Burmese women and children lose their husbands and fathers in order to defend their lovely homeland against the oppressor. Many sellers and farmers lose their stores and farms because of the destruction that is made by the war between these two nations. Therefore, disease, poverty, and hunger strike those people who has lost their homeland in the war. Nevertheless, from the story, it is implied that when the officer shoot the elephant to death, he, by coincidence, already help the native to overcome one of their after-war problem, the hunger. Now they have something to eat for, let’s say, a couple days. The second opinion that is made by the younger men is that it is a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie. It is because they think that an elephant was worth more than any Coringhee coolie.
“Besides, there was the beast 's owner to be considered. Alive, the elephant was worth at least a hundred pounds; dead, he would only be worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, possibly.”
Also, the protagonist explanation about his or her opinion about how worth the elephant is in the passage above makes it obvious that one ought not to kill an elephant in that country. It is because in that country, the elephant is included as one of many important things that have many functions in people life.
Works Cited: 1. “Shooting an Elephant”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_an_Elephant, accessed 22 June 2013. 2. “Anglo-Burmese Wars”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Burmese_Wars accessed 22 June 2013. 3. “First Anglo-Burmese War”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Burmese_War accessed 22 June 2013. 4. “Second Anglo-Burmese War”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Burmese_War accessed 22 June 2013. 5. “Third Anglo-Burmese War”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Burmese_War accessed 23 June 2013.
Based on physics science, everything which moves in this world definitely needs time to travel from one place to another. The time is affected by distance, the amount of space between two things, which will determine whether the travel from one place to another will take a long time or a short one. The connection between time and distance will create velocity, the speed which is generated by something when it is moving through a distance in a certain time between two places. In other words, velocity, distance, and time are connected to each other, thus if there any amount change in one of those three element, it will affect to the other two. Besides happening in the real life as a physics …show more content…
law, velocity, distance, and time is also happening in a story. However, there are several things that distinguish both of them. The distance in the real life is usually measured by meter or mile, but in a story, the distance is measured by how many word that is written to describe one scene in the story. The amount of word that is written to describe one scene in the story will affect the velocity of the story itself. Hence, the more word that is written by the writer to describe one particular event in the story, the slower the velocity of the story will become, also, the more the reader will know and understand the situation and the storyline of the story. It also gives a strong description of one scene, thus will prevent any gap between one occurrence to another that will make any misinterpretation by the reader. Moreover, it can omit any ambiguity of the story meaning. On the other hand, the less word needed to describe one particular event in the story, the faster the velocity of the story will become, also, the less the reader will know and understand the situation and the storyline of the story. It is as well will give a weak description of one scene, hence will make many possibilities of misinterpretation by the reader. It will also increase the possibility of ambiguity of the story meaning. It is very obvious that in the essay entitled Shooting an Elephant which is written by George Orwell, the velocity in the early paragraph is fairly quick as the writer only explains what role the protagonist is playing and how the situation of the story is going in the essay. However, as soon as the story gets to the couple of last paragraph, the velocity of the story become slower, slower, and slower, since the writer tries to tell the reader of what the protagonist is thinking about the situation that he faced. The protagonist has to consider any possibility that will happen if the protagonist chooses one option. The essay is mostly about a man who faces a dilemma. He has to choose one of the two options which he merely has. The conflict of the story is mostly located within the protagonist’s mind which explains that the essay is using the first-person point of view. It makes the reader to be more attached to the protagonist’s feeling, emotion, and mindset when he encounters a problem in the story. This kind of narrative is known as interior monologue. Furthermore, the protagonist has to decide whether he has to follow what people wanted to see or to follow his moral belief. The protagonist also tells the reader about what consequences that he will get if he choose one option. He as well gives various reasons to justify the option he chose. It seems that this story is focusing on how the protagonist solves his problem. The essay which is written by George Orwell can be considered as an essay that criticizes the British Empire imperialism that try to expand their territory by conquering various nations, as in this story, Burma. As already written above, the essay begins with an explanation of what role the protagonist is playing in the essay. The protagonist is a police officer in Burma.
“I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it.” From the passage above, it seems that the occurrence is happening in the imperialism age as it is written that the British is still an empire. In addition, Imperialism age is the age when the British Empire spread his territorial by taking over various nations and builds colonies in it. Moreover, the protagonist is also one of many Europeans who lives in that country and is hated by the native. Even though he is an Englishman, he actually thinks that imperialism is an evil thing which theoretically means that he is siding with the Burmese and against their oppressors, the British. He also feels guilty because of what he and his empire had done to the native.
“For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically – and secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” In short, one day, there is an elephant which is rampaging in the city. It had already took someone life who has a life to live and family to take care. It also had destroyed someone’s bamboo hut which make the owner of the hut has no place anymore to live. Moreover, the elephant had also raided some food stalls and devoured its stock which makes the owners of the fruit stalls will suffer because his economic source is destroyed. In addition, the elephant had as well wrecked the government rubbish van which caused a financial loss for the government. The protagonist is called to the scene in order to overcome the problem. He brought an elephant rifle which is made by Germany in order to defend himself if the situation goes south. The native who sees him carrying a rifle and walking toward the elephant is following him with excitement. The native wanted to see the protagonist kills the elephant. However, he actually has no intention to kill the elephant. He is faced between two options. The first option is not to kill the elephant and follow his moral belief. It is shown in the passage:
“Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large animal.”
There is also a passage mentioning that the protagonist does not want to kill the elephant and also, this passage explains the reason of why the protagonist carries an elephant rifle to the scene.
“I had no intention of shooting the elephant – I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary – and it is always unnerving to have a crowd following you.”
The second option is, because he is an Englishman, hence he must not be frightened in front of the native and shoot the elephant to death.
“A white man mustn 't be frightened in front of "natives"; and so, in general, he isn 't frightened.” After several minutes thinking about what option he ought to choose, he finally chooses the second option.
It needs three shots from the protagonist to kill the elephant. It is also can be interpreted that the nation which is oppressed by another nation, Burma, is symbolized with the elephant, while the oppressor, the British, is symbolized with the officer who shoots the elephant to death. The three shots as well are symbolizing the attempts of the British Empire to conquer Burma. There are three wars that happen between British Empire and Burma before the British Empire successfully gain its control over Burma. The three wars are known as the Anglo-Burmese Wars. The war begins in 1824 and ends in 1885.
“When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick – one never does when a shot goes home – but I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd.”
The passage symbolizes the first attempt of British Empire to conquer Burma which is also known as the first Anglo-Burmese War that took place during 1824–1826.
“I fired again into the same spot. At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head
drooping.”
The passage symbolizes the second attempt of British Empire to conquer Burma which is also known as the second Anglo-Burmese War that took place during 1852 to 1853.
“I fired a third time. That was the shot that did for him. You could see the agony of it jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant of strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree.”
The passage symbolizes the third and the last attempt of British Empire to conquer Burma which is also known as the third Anglo-Burmese War that took place during 1885 to 1886. The last war is successfully won by the British and it is finally can totally rule Burma. The Burmese sovereignty and independence is completely wiped out by the British. This occurrence is the same when the officer shoots the elephant for the third time which finally makes the elephant meet its doom. Afterwards, this occurrence divides the Europeans opinion. The first opinion is made by the older men. They say that what protagonist did is right for the reason that the elephant has killed a civilian and caused so much destruction, hence it must be executed. In some nation in the world, when someone kills a man, he or she, as a consequence, must be executed as well. Therefore, the elephant should not get a different reaction. It has to take the consequence of killing a man. It has done so much destruction to the city. Moreover, when the elephant is killed, the native is immediately running toward the elephant. It is shown in the passage:
“I got up. The Burmans were already racing past me across the mud.”
They are trying to get as much meat as they can get from the elephant. It can be represented that when the elephant is killed, its meat can become very useful to give the hunger something to eat. Therefore, when the protagonist decides to kill the elephant, it is not only will end the terrible terror, but its meat can also help the native to overcome their hunger. War always makes a lot of destruction to the nation which is defeated by another nation. At that time, Burma is the country which is defeated by another nation, the British Empire. Many Burmese live in sorrow and agony as their country is defeated. Their economy, government, and law are controlled by the great empire from across the sea, British Empire. Many Burmese women and children lose their husbands and fathers in order to defend their lovely homeland against the oppressor. Many sellers and farmers lose their stores and farms because of the destruction that is made by the war between these two nations. Therefore, disease, poverty, and hunger strike those people who has lost their homeland in the war. Nevertheless, from the story, it is implied that when the officer shoot the elephant to death, he, by coincidence, already help the native to overcome one of their after-war problem, the hunger. Now they have something to eat for, let’s say, a couple days. The second opinion that is made by the younger men is that it is a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie. It is because they think that an elephant was worth more than any Coringhee coolie.
“Besides, there was the beast 's owner to be considered. Alive, the elephant was worth at least a hundred pounds; dead, he would only be worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, possibly.”
Also, the protagonist explanation about his or her opinion about how worth the elephant is in the passage above makes it obvious that one ought not to kill an elephant in that country. It is because in that country, the elephant is included as one of many important things that have many functions in people life.
Works Cited: 1. “Shooting an Elephant”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_an_Elephant, accessed 22 June 2013. 2. “Anglo-Burmese Wars”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Burmese_Wars accessed 22 June 2013. 3. “First Anglo-Burmese War”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Burmese_War accessed 22 June 2013. 4. “Second Anglo-Burmese War”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Burmese_War accessed 22 June 2013. 5. “Third Anglo-Burmese War”, Wikipedia, [database online] at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Burmese_War accessed 23 June 2013.