ghed at.” Seeing as Westerners have been the perpetrators of imperialism for the past several centuries‚ it is to them that his message is directed. Purpose: Orwell’s purpose in “Shooting an Elephant” is to persuade his audience that imperialism is harmful to all parties involved. The harms of imperialism are illustrated with Orwell’s words‚ “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” This evidences the harms of imperialism by showing
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Orwell condemns it and thinks of it as only a façade of power. In ”Shooting an Elephant”‚ he conveys the ironic‚ powerless and evil nature of Imperialism through the experience of himself as a young British officer shooting the elephant against his own will in order to maintain the image of the imperial power in Burma. This is shown specifically through the relationship between the British and Burmese‚ the portrayal of the elephant as well as development of the inner conflicts of the protagonist.
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Reaction to shooting an elephant This time tables are turned for Orwell. In A hanging Orwell was the oppressor but in shooting an elephant I felt that Orwell was oppressed by the Burmese people as he mentions that "In Moulmein‚ in lower Burma‚ I was hated by large numbers of people" and he emphasizes on that fact by adding "As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so" and was also oppressed by the empire as he was forced to do a job that he doesn’t
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reading the essay “Shooting an Elephant”‚ it gives away many symbols and a very important life lesson. The essay has many symbols‚ but three stick out like a sore thumb. These include the gun‚ the Burmese people‚ and the elephant. A main symbol that is easily noticed is the gun he uses. A small powerful rifle against a huge elephant. Orwell even noted “an old .44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant” (324). The gun isn’t mad to kill a giant beast like this elephant. It was all he had
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Leonard Morrow Christina Olson Writing Assignment 3 9 April 2013 Rhetorical Analysis: “Shooting an Elephant” In the essay entitled “Shooting an Elephant‚” George Orwell writes‚ “In Moulmein‚ in lower Burma‚ I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me” (Orwell‚ pg#). In this exert‚ not only does Orwell succeed in setting the mood and foreshadowing events to come‚ but he also introduces us to a protagonist
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Shooting an Elephant Summary: Set during the early 1900’s‚ the narrator recount his experiences as an English police officer stationed in Burma. He often describes that the British presence there were greatly despised and that he himself has been a target multiple times by the Burmese people. “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.” (229) Being there to do the dirty work of the British empire‚ the narrator gets to see what imperialism really
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In the passage‚ Shooting an Elephant a hated police officer killed an elephant. Orwell was asked to come and do something about an elephant ravaging a bazaar. On his way‚ he ran into Various Burman’s that told him what the elephant was doing. He figured that is was not anything to serious‚ the elephant would eventually calm down. The elephant was heated. The night before it had broken out of its chain and escaped. The elephant’s mahout was the only one who can manage it but he was about twelve hours
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“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell in 1936 Imperialism is “the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic‚ cultural‚ and territorial relationship‚ usually between states and often in the form of an empire‚ based on domination and subordination”[1]. During the British colonial period from the late 16th century to the 19th century‚ Britain assembled an empire which in 1922 held sway over a population of about 458 million people. The United Kingdom had several colonies‚ dominions‚ protectorates
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One day there was a rampaging circus elephant going through the town‚ and Orwell went with his old .44 Winchester so he could go scare it away. During the elephants rampage throughout the town it destroyed a hut‚ killed a cow and raided some fruit stalls. Later on they realized the elephant trampled a man to death and that’s when Orwell went and got an elephant rifle from a friend because he thought it was needed at the moment. Orwell tracked down the elephant and the whole town followed because they
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Orwell spent the next twenty years as a writer; the essay “Shooting an Elephant‚” set in the Burma of the 1920s and written in 1936‚ is one of his most famous works. In the early twentieth century‚ Burma was still a colony of Britain but anti-imperialism protests and social movements developed very fast‚ causing “great tension between Burmese‚ Indians and English‚ between civilians and police” (Meyers 56). Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” is based on this historical tension. In this essay‚ Orwell
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