is the greatest accomplishment.” In the essays “Salvation” and “Shooting an Elephant” authors Langston Hughes and George Orwell convey the similar message that anything of importance‚ can’t be forced on anyone‚ they rather have to find it for themselves. Orwell was about twenty years old when he went to the village of Burma to work as an officer for the British. The story focuses on a moment in his life involving shooting an elephant. Hughes on the other hand‚ was a young boy who was brought to a
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Chasity Diaz Shooting an Elephant Feb.18 In the first two paragraphs‚ the reader gets plenty insight into what was happening during that certain point in history. He gives clues into the time period‚ his location in terms of what country he’s in‚ and what the mood of this place is.Through all this context‚ you can infer several things about the narrator and even what is going on. He explains that during the time‚ Europeans were mistreated and he goes on to tell how he gets harassed in public so
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The act of shooting the elephant is a culmination of the officer’s ignorance of what he knows should be done. Firstly‚ the officer rationally decides that he should not shoot the elephant because “it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery” (Orwell par. 6). He also decides that the elephant “is no more dangerous than a cow” (par. 6). Secondly‚ the officer knew that shooting the elephant was morally wrong. He personified the elephant by describing it as having
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Name Instructor English 15 October 2010 "Death of an Elephant": Symbolism in Orwell As a former business major‚ whenever I read‚ whether fiction or non-fiction‚ I tend to focus too much on the surface meaning—the facts—and I often miss the subtle symbolism and deeper meaning of a piece of literature. As an English major‚ I am attempting to change‚ but I am often skeptical of symbolism‚ fearing that we may be reading too much into an author’s words. For
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George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” 1. On page 517 of The Norton Reader‚ Shorter Edition‚ the first question asks‚ “Why did Orwell shoot the elephant? Account for the motives that led him to shoot. Then categorize them as personal motives‚ circumstantial motives‚ social motives‚ or political motives. Is it easy to assign his motives to categories? Why or why not * Orwell did shoot the elephant because he felt the pressure that came from thousands of native people behind him when he
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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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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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Recently‚ to our horror‚ random mass shooting incidents successively occurred one after another in the United States. Above all‚ one of those happened in California is still fresh in our memory. On November 14th‚ 2017‚ the armed criminal‚ Kevin Neal‚ got killed by police after he committed mass shooting at multiple locations that killed 4 people and injured 14 people including 2 elementary school students. On the evening before the day‚ it already began secretly. He murdered his wife at home‚ hiding
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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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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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