George Orwell “Shooting an Elephant” In the essay “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell argues that imperialism ruins and hurts not just a countries’ economic‚ cultural and social structure‚ but has other far reaching consequences; oppression undermines the psychological‚ emotional and behavioral development of mankind. Orwell served his country‚ the British Empire‚ in Burma during the early 20’s as a police officer. The country was colonized by the most powerful economical leader in Europe.
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George Orwell: Shooting an Elephant In his essay‚ George Orwell tells a story of what happened in Burma when he served as a police officer. At the time‚ the Burmese citizens did not look kindly upon the English police that protected their city. He describes several instances where he was ridiculed‚ taunted‚ and baited into precarious situations. He goes on to proclaim the cowardice of these citizens‚ and how they waited until the police were out of range before yelling insults towards them.
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"Shooting an Elephant‚" by George Orwell is a first person view on living and working as a European police officer in Moulmein‚ Lower Burma. There was a bit of tension between the locals and the foreign law enforcement since the British had taken over the country‚ so Orwell was not thought fondly of. The climax of this essay was when a otherwise tame elephant starts rampaging because is had gone into "must" a term used on page 118 that means in heat. The owner loses track of the animal in the
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Shooting an Elephant is one of the most famous essays by George Orwell that presents the situation of preindependence era in Burma. There are very subtle instances that act as a window for the readers into the social setup of that time. One could see that the Burmese hated the British in a pity and helpless manner. One of the few opportunities they had to express their anger was during the soccer game where the rules of society were over ruled by the rules of the game. The psychology of the author
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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
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George Orwell’s "Shooting an Elephant" is an essay about a British police officer living in Lower Burma who goes through the trial and error process of making the right decisions while still trying to maintain an image and position of authority. The officer is hated by the Burmese people‚ which is clearly shown when he would play football. The Burmese were extremely unfair to the officer due to the fact he was part of the Imperialist group which was oppressing Burma. (para. 1) Although the officer
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1)Create a T-chart. On one side write specific language that shows how the Burmese are treated by the British and on the other side how Orwell is treated by the Burmese (use evidence from the first paragraph). Who is the victim: Orwell or the Burmese? (Hint: It is the Burmese) Explain using the evidence you gathered. “The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups‚ the grey‚ cowed faces of the long-term convicts‚ the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos”
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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
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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
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Aurelian M. Gogean What you give up to fit in? Many people sacrifice their beliefs and values to be accepted in society and to win the 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
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