Rhetorical Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

When not handled carefully, power can destroy freedom. Many tyrannical leaders and countries have bent the rules to their advantage, causing the rights of others as well as themselves to be violated and eventually consumed by their hunger for domination and popularity amongst their followers. Being a follower of an almighty empire, Orwell displays his perplexity in relation to his position and social “responsibilities” as a police officer in a foreign country, in which he must execute the dirty work of the British, in his essay Shooting an Elephant. Through the employment of rhetorical devices and specific word choice, Orwell exposes his conflicting feelings between his hatred of the British Empire’s imperialistic views and the social pressure,