George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

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It’s no secret to see that hostility, anger, and resentment all voice the tone of Orwell’s essay. Throughout the essay, Orwell weaves his thesis about the effects of imperialism not only on the oppressed but on the oppressors, as well. Orwell’s essay, however, is more than one person’s riveting narrative about the beginning of an awareness. “Shooting an Elephant” captures a universal experience of going against one’s own humanity at the cost of a part of that humanity. As a police office, Orwell is in conflict with the Burmese people. As a police officer whose job is to protect and serve the people, Orwell is in direct conflict with the creature. This conflict not only puts Orwell in physical danger, it also places social pressure on him. When
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George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

slightly known in Britain, but it was unfortunate that not many people actually acknowledged it. Knowing this, in George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant ”, first published by literary magazine in 1936, attempts a negative effects of British imperialism, by informing the reader of the very great situation. In his essay, he writes not just about his personal experience about the elephant but also he heavily criticizes the concept of British colonization which makes people on both sides of the issue…

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experience in Burma gave him insight on the effects imperialism: revealing the true nature of human cruelty. In Orwell short piece Shooting an Elephant, Orwell succumbs to the pressure around him and shoots the elephant in front of a crowd. Orwell’s afterthoughts about the situation were bitter and he claims to have only shot the elephant to save his face. The faceoff between Orwell and the elephant is similar to the climax in Nineteen Eighty-Four where O’Brien taunts Winston with his fear of rats in Room…

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The parallelism between the elephant and the British Empire is quite symbolic of the fall of imperialism. Orwell draws a connection between the two using two predominant aspects: physical traits and impacts on Burma. The elephant is a colossal being within the animal kingdom and by using it, Orwell seeks to highlight the scale of the British Empire (Tyner 262). The size is a symbol of power as it is known that an elephant is unstoppable. Apart from similarities in structural and physical qualities…

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