_SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT BY GEORGE ORWELL:_ _Commentary_ Political‚ social & ethical issues raised in Orwell’s essay "Shooting an Elephant" create a controversial storyline in which the events metaphorically symbolize the colonial imperialism of the time. Set in Burma‚ 1936‚ the context is based around the anti-European attitudes existent post the Anglo-Burmese Wars. Orwell’s positions‚ as police officer for the despotic British governments‚ required him to hold authority over the Burmese‚ consequently
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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
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George Orwell writes Shooting an Elephant with his experiences in Burma; so story is in Burma‚ Myanmar. Both Orwell uses his own experiences in past and he lives in the significant era of British in history‚ we see high rise at historical background in the story. Orwell prefers to indirect way to express his emotions using symbols. One of the main symbols is an elephant. The elephant symbolizes British Empire. The reason that Orwell chooses the elephant‚ the empire is powerful like an elephant. When
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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
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even to themselves. George Orwell‚ in “Shooting an Elephant”‚ tells a story of his past when he killed an elephant in order to please the Burmese crowd. At the time‚ Orwell was a white Indian Imperial Police officer who was disliked by the country’s natives due to the fact that he was European. One day‚ he heard of an elephant’s doing of ravaging the town‚ so he ran to the scene with a rifle. When he finally arrived‚ he found himself observing a peacefully feeding elephant while a huge crowd of
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True Feelings In "Shooting an Elephant" written in 1936‚ George Orwell comes off as being a racist and a coward. I believe that he is not a coward. After reading the narration‚ you must picture yourself during that time in Burma. In the hunt for natural resources the British forced themselves upon the people of Burma. This caused great tension and hate against any whites‚ Especially the Burman priests who”...none of them seemed to have anything to do except stand on street corners and jeer at Europeans
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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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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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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
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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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