Was Orwell Justified In Shooting The Elephant
George Orwell essay was full of thoughts and denial. In the beginning of his essay he was against shooting the elephant. Once he saw the opportunity of acceptance, he decided to take action towards the elephant. Throughout this essay the author doubts himself. He feels a sense of guilt towards the end of the essay. Orwell had three perspective in this essay guilt, doubtful, and acceptance. In this situation acceptance took over his feelings, and this is why Orwell was not justified in shooting the elephant.
In the beginning of the essay the author said the following “I took my rifle, an old .44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might be useful in terrorem”. The author had no intention in killing the
elephant, and throughout the essay he continues to imply that he will not do any action towards the elephant because it was not doing any harm. Half way through the essay the author sends an order to a friend’s house nearby to borrow an elephant rifle. So the author intention of the elephant has shifted but as you continue to read the essay his inner feeling decided not to shoot the elephant because of the circumstances. “I had no intention of shooting the elephant-I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary”. When the author finally has a view of the elephant he indicates that “As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” The author sees that the elephant is harmless, and he even suggest that he would watch the elephant for a while to make sure that he did not savage again. The author was for the elephant, he wanted no harm towards the elephant. As long as the elephant was peaceful the author agreed not to shoot.
In this essay the author has a pseudonym called Eric Arthur Blair. Eric served with the imperial police in Burma during the situation when the elephant escaped. He indicates that he was hated by the people. “In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people”. The shooting of the elephant was the only time he felt important. The main reason why Eric decided to shoot the elephant was to feel accepted. In the essay he said “They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hand I was momentarily worth watching. Since he felt accepted he decided to shoot the elephant. If the people from Burmese weren’t present during this situation Eric would have decided to leave the elephant alone. “But in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind.” Not only did he want acceptance but he didn’t want to be a failure. It was his duty to impress the natives. Eric Arthur Blair explains that if he failed to shoot the elephant that he would be humiliated because the crowd would laugh at him. “Every white man’s life in the East was one long struggle not to be laughed at.”
The main character in this essay always has some type of sympathy for the elephant. “But I did not want to shoot the elephant…. it seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him.” He was the type of person to reject a murder. He felt so much pressure that he ended up shooting the elephant several times. The reason behind shooting the elephant several times was for the elephant to die without pain. “It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there”. Eric denied watching the elephant die so he decided to leave. The gun shoots toward the elephant was a sense of caring because he didn’t want the elephant to suffer. He felt a sense of guilt for his actions when he left the elephant to die because it was painful for him to watch.
In the beginning of the essay the author said the following “I took my rifle, an old .44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might be useful in terrorem”. The author had no intention in killing the
elephant, and throughout the essay he continues to imply that he will not do any action towards the elephant because it was not doing any harm. Half way through the essay the author sends an order to a friend’s house nearby to borrow an elephant rifle. So the author intention of the elephant has shifted but as you continue to read the essay his inner feeling decided not to shoot the elephant because of the circumstances. “I had no intention of shooting the elephant-I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary”. When the author finally has a view of the elephant he indicates that “As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” The author sees that the elephant is harmless, and he even suggest that he would watch the elephant for a while to make sure that he did not savage again. The author was for the elephant, he wanted no harm towards the elephant. As long as the elephant was peaceful the author agreed not to shoot.
In this essay the author has a pseudonym called Eric Arthur Blair. Eric served with the imperial police in Burma during the situation when the elephant escaped. He indicates that he was hated by the people. “In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people”. The shooting of the elephant was the only time he felt important. The main reason why Eric decided to shoot the elephant was to feel accepted. In the essay he said “They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hand I was momentarily worth watching. Since he felt accepted he decided to shoot the elephant. If the people from Burmese weren’t present during this situation Eric would have decided to leave the elephant alone. “But in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind.” Not only did he want acceptance but he didn’t want to be a failure. It was his duty to impress the natives. Eric Arthur Blair explains that if he failed to shoot the elephant that he would be humiliated because the crowd would laugh at him. “Every white man’s life in the East was one long struggle not to be laughed at.”
The main character in this essay always has some type of sympathy for the elephant. “But I did not want to shoot the elephant…. it seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him.” He was the type of person to reject a murder. He felt so much pressure that he ended up shooting the elephant several times. The reason behind shooting the elephant several times was for the elephant to die without pain. “It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there”. Eric denied watching the elephant die so he decided to leave. The gun shoots toward the elephant was a sense of caring because he didn’t want the elephant to suffer. He felt a sense of guilt for his actions when he left the elephant to die because it was painful for him to watch.