Shooting an elephant essay

Shooting an elephant essay

"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell is a narrative essay about Orwell's time as a police officer for the British Raj in colonial Burma. The essay delves into an inner conflict that Orwell experiences in his role of representing the British Empire and upholding the law 1 day ago · Where does the hook go in an essay writing a great conclusion research paper is elephant essay about the an shooting What writer's block research paper! Mba dissertation proposal sample pdf example of narrative essay about travel, what is a great way to start an essay essay for gun rights essay about advertising good or bad text analysis: reflective essay In a reflective essay, the writer makes a connection between a personal observation and a universal idea, such as love, honor, or freedom. In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell reflects on a specific incident from his time as a young police officer in British-ruled Burma during the s. Paradoxically, readers

George Orwell's Essay on his Life in Burma: "Shooting An Elephant" | NEH-Edsitement

The essay describes the experience of the English narrator, possibly Orwell himself, called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer in Burma. Because the locals expect him to do the job, he does so against his better judgment, his anguish increased by the elephant's slow and painful death. The story is regarded as a metaphor for colonialism as a whole, and for Orwell's view that "when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys, shooting an elephant essay.

Orwell spent some of his life in Burma in a position akin to shooting an elephant essay of the narrator, but the degree to shooting an elephant essay his account is autobiographical is disputed, shooting an elephant essay, with no conclusive evidence to prove it to be fact shooting an elephant essay fiction. The British Empire gradually annexed Burma over a period of 62 years — during which three Shooting an elephant essay Wars took place, and Britain incorporated it into British India.

It was administered as a province of India untilwhen it became a separate, self-governing colony, attaining its independence on January 4, With a strong interest in the lives of the working class, Orwell, born in India to a middle-class family but brought up in Britain, shooting an elephant essay the post of assistant superintendent in the British Indian Imperial Police in Burma from to the rare and revered white elephantis believed in Buddhist legend to be a symbol of purity and power".

The Kipling -inspired shooting an elephant essay of the Raj had been worn thin by the daily realities of his job in which he witnessed 'the dirty work of Empire at close quarters'".

As a member of the ruling power, he is cornered into doing what the "natives" expect of him: "He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it". In Moulmein, shooting an elephant essay, the narrator, Orwell, writing in the first person is a police officer during a period of intense anti-European sentiment.

Although his intellectual sympathies lie with the Burmese, his official role makes him a symbol of the oppressive imperial power. As such, he is subjected to constant baiting and jeering by the local people.

After receiving a call regarding a normally tame elephant's rampage, the shooting an elephant essay, armed with a. Entering one of the poorest quarters, he receives conflicting reports and contemplates leaving since he thinks that the incident is a hoax. The narrator then sees a village woman chasing away children who are looking at the corpse of an Indian, whom the elephant has trampled and killed.

He sends an order to bring an elephant rifle and, followed by a group of roughly a few thousand people, heads toward the paddy field in which the elephant has rested in its tracks. Although he does not want to kill the elephant since it now seems peaceful, the narrator feels pressured by the demand of the crowd for the act to be carried out, shooting an elephant essay.

Shooting an elephant essay inquiring as to the elephant's behavior and delaying for some time, he shoots the elephant several times and wounds it but is unable to kill it.

The narrator then leaves the beast since he is unable to be in its presence as it continues to suffer. He later learns that it was stripped, nearly to the bone, within hours.

His elderly colleagues agree that killing the elephant was the best thing to do, but the younger ones believe that it was worth more than the Indian whom it killed. The narrator then wonders if they will ever understand that he shot it "solely to avoid looking a fool". An anti-imperialist writer, Orwell promoted the idea that through imperialism, both conqueror and conquered were destroyed. I was all shooting an elephant essay the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British".

As ruler, he notes that it is his duty to appear resolute, with his word being final:. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.

He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives," and so in every crisis he has got to do what the "natives" expect of him.

He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the elephant, shooting an elephant essay. I had committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and shooting an elephant essay definite things.

To come all that way, shooting an elephant essay, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, shooting an elephant essay, having done nothing — no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man's life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at. Although it is not the narrator's wish to shoot the elephant, his will is not his own and their expectation makes him realise that he must shoot the elephant: "I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind".

Reflectively, the narrator realises being forced to impose strict laws and to shoot the elephant. He states his feelings against the act but submits after comprehending he "had got to shoot the elephant"—illustrates an inherent problem of hegemony: "when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys", shooting an elephant essay.

The narrator's situation throughout the essay is one of little prospect or prominence. He comments on how even though he is a member of the ruling class, he finds himself either largely ignored by the Burmese people or hated.

He remarks in the first sentence, "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". Only with the expectation of a killing do the locals find him "momentarily worth watching".

He describes how, as a police officer, he was often a target for mockery from the locals, as was any other European who provided an easy target, shooting an elephant essay. In contrast to his description of the natives as "little beasts", the narrator labels the elephant as a "great beast" and suggests that he holds it at a higher status than the locals.

That is somewhat paradoxical, however, as the narrator's own job is demeaning and forces him to see "the dirty work of the Empire shooting an elephant essay close quarters".

The narrator singles out "young Buddhist priests" to be "the worst of all" and comments on how he would gladly "drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts". Shooting an elephant essay killed the elephant, the narrator considers how he was glad that it killed the " coolie ", as that gave him full legal backing. The essay finishes with him wondering if they will even understand his motive for having killed the elephant, as he merely wishes to salvage his pride, shooting an elephant essay.

The narrator's conscience plagues him greatly as he finds himself trapped between the "hatred of the empire [he] served" and his "rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make [his] shooting an elephant essay impossible". That creates a sense of empathy from the conquerers towards the conquered, but as they treat their conquerors badly, the conquerors start to feel less guilty and shooting an elephant essay treat them badly once more.

In" Shooting an Elephant " was adapted into a short film by director Juan Pablo Rothie and Academy Award nominated writer Alec Sokolow. The film was shot entirely on location in Nepal starring Barry Sloane as Eric Blair. The degree to which the story is fiction has been disputed. In his biography of Orwell, George Orwell: A LifeBernard Crick cast doubt on the idea that Orwell himself actually shot an elephant.

No independent account of Orwell's actions has been found, and there was no official record of the incident, which was unusual because of the destruction of valuable property. Peter Davisonthe editor of Orwell's Complete Worksincludes an interview with George Stuart, a contemporary of Orwell in Burma, who said that Orwell was transferred to Kathar as punishment for shooting an elephant.

and Orwell would have been severely reprimanded for such unnecessary slaughter. It was not long after the incident that he was transferred from Moulmein to a quiet post in Upper Burma called Katha".

Kenny shooting an elephant in similar circumstances. When one biographer questioned Orwell's wife, Sonia Brownellshe replied, "Of course he shot a f--king a [sic] elephant. He said he did.

Why do you always doubt his word! From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power, from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond. Princeton University Press,pp. Finding George Orwell in Burma First American ed. New York: The Penguin Press. ISBN Retrieved pl — Journalist blog. July 22, Archived from the original on May 19, Archived from the original on September 9, shooting an elephant essay, Retrieved February 21, George Orwell.

Burmese Days A Clergyman's Daughter Keep the Aspidistra Flying Coming Up for Air Animal Farm Nineteen Eighty-Four Down and Out in Paris and London The Road to Wigan Pier Homage to Catalonia Cigarettes " " Confessions of a Book Reviewer " " Decline of the English Murder " " A Good Word for the Shooting an elephant essay of Bray " " How the Poor Die " " The Moon Under Water " " A Nice Cup of Tea " " Pleasure Spots " " Politics and the English Language " " The Politics of Starvation " " Politics vs.

Literature: An Examination of Gulliver's Travels " " The Prevention of Literature " " Riding Down from Bangor " " Second Thoughts on James Burnham " " Some Thoughts on the Common Toad " " Why I Write " Authority control VIAF 1 WorldCat via VIAF.

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Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell (Complete Essay)

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Shooting an Elephant Summary | GradeSaver

"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell is a narrative essay about Orwell's time as a police officer for the British Raj in colonial Burma. The essay delves into an inner conflict that Orwell experiences in his role of representing the British Empire and upholding the law Shooting An Elephant. An essay by George Orwell, first published in the literary magazine New Writing in 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 Jan 15,  · George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" is about a British police officer, serving the Empire in occupied Burma, who has grown weary and