societies approval. George Orwell in “Shooting an elephant” and Langston Hughes in “Salvation” deal with the issue of “fitting in” in very different ways. George Orwell describes to us in “Shooting an elephant” the struggle that his character faces when to win the mobs approval and respect when he shoots down an innocent animal and sacrifices what he believes to be right. Orwell is a police officer in Moulmein‚ during the period of the British occupation of Burma. An escaped elephant gives him the opportunity
Premium Burma George Orwell Shooting an Elephant
In the essay “Shooting an Elephant”‚ George Orwell uses the elephant as an extended metaphor for Orwell’s morality and the outside forces challenging it. In the second paragraph‚ Orwell makes it clear that he “was stuck between [George Orwell’s] hatred of the empire [he] served and [his] rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make [his] job impossible.” Deep down‚ Orwell despised imperialism and sympathized with the oppressed Burmese people as a whole. His morality is clouded
Premium Burma George Orwell Shooting an Elephant
In 1936‚ author George Orwell wrote an essay titled “Shooting an Elephant”. In the essay Orwell describes a scene of a British police officer who is stuck between having to shoot an elephant. The story takes place in Burma‚ India where then‚ they were under British imperialism. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. It humiliates the occupied people‚ reducing them to an inferior status in their own country. Analyzing Orwell’s work
Premium British Empire George Orwell Colonialism
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
Premium George Orwell Burma Shooting an Elephant
1. Orwell shoots the elephant because the two thousand native people standing behind him expect him to. They want revenge for the man it killed‚ the meat the carcass will provide‚ and the entertainment of watching the shooting. “The people expected it of me and I had got to do it” he writes. There is a suggestion that if he decided not to shoot the elephant‚ both he and the empire would suffer a loss of prestige‚ but the main concern in Orwell’s mind is the “long struggle not to be laughed at”. He
Premium George Orwell Burma Shooting an Elephant
Imperialism an irony. Imperialism is a nowin situation: ● ● ● Throughout the short text we see Orwell as a character torn between two completely juxtaposed ideals: that in support of the oppressed and the colonial. We are barely halfway through the opening sentence when Orwell declares how he was “hated by large numbers of people” and we quickly learn of the immense anger he has towards his tormentors. Initially‚ we learn of Orwell’s personal experience of power and how he is “hated by large numbers of
Premium
In Shooting an Elephant‚ I think that Orwell may have been cowardice. He knew that shooting that elephant was wrong‚ but he didn’t anyway. He wanted to impress the large crowd that had gathered around him. He wanted to show that white men are powerful and more important. He thought that by shooting the elephant‚ he would prove that he wasn’t a fool. He was taught‚ and everyone around him was taught‚ that white men should be in control of situations. He was supposed to know what to do; he was supposed
Premium George Orwell Burma Shooting an Elephant
Orwell’s autobiographical account of shooting and eventually killing an elephant presents the animal and its death sympathetically as it died a slow‚ painful death. Through the language‚ the author evokes sympathy towards the elephant and a slightly more complex feeling towards the author who‚ although he kills the elephant‚ suffers inwardly during the process and appears to be affected by the Burman crowd’s greed to strip the carcass. In the society Orwell lived in‚ hunting was common amongst
Premium George Orwell Burma Shooting an Elephant
most seemingly complicated and abstract concepts. In Shooting an Elephant‚ George Orwell argues two things. One of these things is small; the other is large. However‚ both are explained by one seemingly insignificant event. The small thing is shooting an elephant‚ and the large thing is how a person’s pride often forces them to give into the pressure from others. At the surface‚ “Shooting an Elephant” is about‚ well‚ shooting an elephant. Orwell narrates the whole
Premium George Orwell Shooting an Elephant English-language films
Shooting An Elephant Questions 1)George Orwell has an extremely scornful attitude towards imperialism. He views it as a corrupt form of government. He has a strong disgust for the native people‚ as they continually harass him on a daily basis. They attempt to trip him on the soccer field‚ laugh and make fun of him. Orwell dislikes his position in Burma‚ as he frequently states that he does not like having power and ruling over a foreign people. Many times the masses of people tend to go around what
Premium George Orwell Burma British Empire