Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell Analysis
Reflection on “Shooting an Elephant”
“I was hated by… people” and “the only time…been important enough” are words that jump out at me revealing Orwell’s low self-esteem and low self-worth. His essay describes the events that turn his luck enabling him to feel a pseudo-sense of control and authority over the Burmese. Opportunity presents itself in the form of an elephant running amok, leaving a trail of destruction and death behind. Unfortunately he gives in to pressure exerted by the locals and does something horrific, something that could be completely avoided, to establish superiority over the locals who have harassed him in the past.
Orwell does a great job of setting the tone – gloomy, low-spirited, and one filled with unhappy events by using words such as target, sneering yellow faces, hooted, bogged, huddling, evil-spirited little …show more content…
beasts, and oppressed.
The first time Orwell actually uses a happy word, and I was almost happy when I read the word “Joy” was when he wanted to “to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts” (1).
He is clearly filled with rage, probably a quality the English empire had identified in him and found him suitable to carry out the task he was appointed for, regardless of how ill-educated he might seem or consider himself to be.
As I read the events of the elephant’s “Must”, its attack and how Orwell managed to subdue the elephant, I couldn’t help but think it was almost as if he was using the elephant as a tool to showcase his “Must”. The essay is actually about him breaking-free from the chains that hold him back.
To describe the moments prior to the shooting of the elephant, Orwell writes “I marched down the hill, looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my shoulder and an ever-growing army of people jostling at my heels” (2). I found this particular sentence a little conflicting, which speaks volumes about his inner conflict with regards to power. The word “march” indicates power and authority, while “fool” indicates weakness and
infirmity.
Orwell’s honesty appeals to me. There was a time I too had low self-esteem and I would also be very apologetic. This event probably changed that for him, and it is evident from the end of the essay when he writes, “And afterwards I was very glad that the coolie had been killed; it put me legally in the right and it gave me a sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant” (4), where he sounds very confident.
Word Count: 413
Date: Sept 29, 2014
“I was hated by… people” and “the only time…been important enough” are words that jump out at me revealing Orwell’s low self-esteem and low self-worth. His essay describes the events that turn his luck enabling him to feel a pseudo-sense of control and authority over the Burmese. Opportunity presents itself in the form of an elephant running amok, leaving a trail of destruction and death behind. Unfortunately he gives in to pressure exerted by the locals and does something horrific, something that could be completely avoided, to establish superiority over the locals who have harassed him in the past.
Orwell does a great job of setting the tone – gloomy, low-spirited, and one filled with unhappy events by using words such as target, sneering yellow faces, hooted, bogged, huddling, evil-spirited little …show more content…
beasts, and oppressed.
The first time Orwell actually uses a happy word, and I was almost happy when I read the word “Joy” was when he wanted to “to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts” (1).
He is clearly filled with rage, probably a quality the English empire had identified in him and found him suitable to carry out the task he was appointed for, regardless of how ill-educated he might seem or consider himself to be.
As I read the events of the elephant’s “Must”, its attack and how Orwell managed to subdue the elephant, I couldn’t help but think it was almost as if he was using the elephant as a tool to showcase his “Must”. The essay is actually about him breaking-free from the chains that hold him back.
To describe the moments prior to the shooting of the elephant, Orwell writes “I marched down the hill, looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my shoulder and an ever-growing army of people jostling at my heels” (2). I found this particular sentence a little conflicting, which speaks volumes about his inner conflict with regards to power. The word “march” indicates power and authority, while “fool” indicates weakness and
infirmity.
Orwell’s honesty appeals to me. There was a time I too had low self-esteem and I would also be very apologetic. This event probably changed that for him, and it is evident from the end of the essay when he writes, “And afterwards I was very glad that the coolie had been killed; it put me legally in the right and it gave me a sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant” (4), where he sounds very confident.
Word Count: 413
Date: Sept 29, 2014