30/10/11 ‘Shooting an Elephant’ Rebecca Bonner 2. Choose an essay which puts across a strong personal belief in a clear and convincing manor. George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant‚’ is an essay which takes place in imperial Burma where he is a police officer working on behalf of the British Empire. He is resented by the people who pressures him into shooting an elephant‚ where he describes himself as being a meaningless puppet in front of the Burmese crowd. Throughout this essay he also
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Adam Smack 7/26/15 ENG 101 Response Analysis The reading‚ "Shooting an Elephant" takes place in Moulmein. He starts of the story in spectacle as to why the locals have so much hatred toward the Europeans when in all reality his main goal was only to help and protect the townspeople from any hurt‚ harm or danger that may come their way. In this story‚ the police officer’s duty was to respond to a report of the death of a man who was killed by a stray elephant. Upon approaching the dead man‚ he finds
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In George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” (1936)‚ he reveals that he despises the very idea of imperialism. Orwell shows this by using an extended metaphor throughout the entire essay. The metaphor is shown through the story of him shooting an elephant. He is representing the entire British nation‚ and their imperialistic values. He shows that he does not really want to shoot this elephant if it is not necessary but the Burmese people keep pressuring him to do something and to do it right
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Orwell condemns it and thinks of it as only a façade of power. In ”Shooting an Elephant”‚ he conveys the ironic‚ powerless and evil nature of Imperialism through the experience of himself as a young British officer shooting the elephant against his own will in order to maintain the image of the imperial power in Burma. This is shown specifically through the relationship between the British and Burmese‚ the portrayal of the elephant as well as development of the inner conflicts of the protagonist.
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background see things. Unfortunately‚ in “Shooting an Elephant” the Burmese perspective was limited being that they were happy for an elephant to die for immediate satisfaction‚ ignoring that the Elephant is a symbolism for power and dignity within their culture “However‚ the white man and enforcer of imperialism was able to experience what it feels like to be oppressed. Orwell‚ being a man of privilege‚ aware of how “evil” imperialism is going against his personal feelings for the interest of himself
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reading the essay “Shooting an Elephant”‚ it gives away many symbols and a very important life lesson. The essay has many symbols‚ but three stick out like a sore thumb. These include the gun‚ the Burmese people‚ and the elephant. A main symbol that is easily noticed is the gun he uses. A small powerful rifle against a huge elephant. Orwell even noted “an old .44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant” (324). The gun isn’t mad to kill a giant beast like this elephant. It was all he had
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Shooting an Elephant Summary: Set during the early 1900’s‚ the narrator recount his experiences as an English police officer stationed in Burma. He often describes that the British presence there were greatly despised and that he himself has been a target multiple times by the Burmese people. “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.” (229) Being there to do the dirty work of the British empire‚ the narrator gets to see what imperialism really
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One day there was a rampaging circus elephant going through the town‚ and Orwell went with his old .44 Winchester so he could go scare it away. During the elephants rampage throughout the town it destroyed a hut‚ killed a cow and raided some fruit stalls. Later on they realized the elephant trampled a man to death and that’s when Orwell went and got an elephant rifle from a friend because he thought it was needed at the moment. Orwell tracked down the elephant and the whole town followed because they
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Reaction to shooting an elephant This time tables are turned for Orwell. In A hanging Orwell was the oppressor but in shooting an elephant I felt that Orwell was oppressed by the Burmese people as he mentions that "In Moulmein‚ in lower Burma‚ I was hated by large numbers of people" and he emphasizes on that fact by adding "As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so" and was also oppressed by the empire as he was forced to do a job that he doesn’t
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George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant‚” deals with the evil side of imperialism. The shooting of the elephant in Orwell’s story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters‚ the elephant and the British officer. The British officer‚ acts as a symbol of the imperial country and the elephant is the victim of imperialism. Together‚ the solider and the elephant turns this into an attack on the evils of imperialism. The shooting of the elephant shows the different
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