An Elephant-Sized Dilemma Everyone‚ of all ages and time periods‚ faces a moral dilemma. This may be about a smaller problem or matters of life and death that have a far more wide-ranging impact‚ such as imperialism. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant‚” an unnamed narrator‚ despite his initial reluctance‚ succumbs to collective pressures to shoot a marauding elephant in Lower Burma. Orwell comments on the dangers of collective pressure and the horrors of imperialism in order to explore 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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Shooting An Elephant – George Orwell Orwell begins his essay by describing the intense hatred of the Burmese for their European masters. 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. Europeans were spit at‚ jeered at‚ and insulted. As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so. I feel his sympathies were on the side of the Burmese‚ and
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In stories‚ "Fourth of July" and "Shooting an Elephant"‚ the main characters’ experience a conflict within themselves. Without these conflicts‚ it would be hard for the authors’ to support their narrative point. In "Fourth of July"‚ it seemed as if the main character was never truly informed of the racism in the world‚ almost as if her parents were trying to hide it from her. "I wanted to eat in the dining car because I had read all about them‚ but my mother reminded me for the umpteenth time
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In the essay “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell is conveying the message that imperialism within a society creates an imbalance in power amongst individuals‚ where Orwell came to realize that he was not on the top of the heap but a tool to oppress the Burmese people. Orwell employs the use of metaphors to enforce his message. When Orwell states‚ “conjurer about to perform a trick”. This way of looking at Orwell is contrary to the way that white Europeans would be looked at in ordinarily. In this
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Rhetorical Analysis of “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell succeeds greatly in telling one of his remarkable experiences in Burma. While working for the British Empire as a police officer in Burma‚ he comes across a elephant gone mad that in his judgment he shouldn’t shoot because the handler was on his way and there was no need to kill the expensive piece of property anymore. But in the end he felt that he needed to do a service for the mob of people that had congregated. Orwell wrote this essay
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The character that I identify with the most is Orwell in “Shooting an Elephant” because of his struggle to do what is morally right when society wants him to be or do something different. I think I sometimes struggle to do what is morally right when an entire world pushes me to conform. For example‚ what if I know a friend has cheated on a test but I cannot say anything to the teacher because after all he or she is my friend. Or‚ when a coworker gets reprimanded by our boss for something I did and
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Shooting an Elephant: Imperialism When the word“dictator” comes to mind‚ humans are dolorous and empathetic. A great proof of this fact was observed during the early parts of the 20th century when oppression and iron fisted rule was established as a social normalcy in much of the world. The oppressive days of totalitarianism have passed and were marked by the death of the infamous and grandiose era of imperialism. Nonetheless‚ it left a bad imprint upon the countries and people that were involved
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In George Orwell’s essay‚ Shooting an Elephant‚ he is an outsider in his country. As a European in a mainly Burman consumed country he was thought of an outcast or treated as a fool for just being from a different origin than the others. Throughout his days he is continuously taunted and bullied by his own community members‚ yet ironically they are the ones that he is supposed to be protecting. One day he is presented a problem that he had two potential ways to solve‚ the non-lethal choice that
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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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