Preview

Symbols In Shooting An Elephant

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
464 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Symbols In Shooting An Elephant
Out of the billions of essays in the world, many have to do with current events or life lessons. After 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 for protection, being the reason the gun is such a powerful symbol. All Orwell expected was to scare the elephant. The loud bang from the gun
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Shooting An Elephant Rhetorical Analysis
    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shooting An Elephant Rhetorical Analysis

    The incident of shooting the elephant gave rise to a much-talked issue. It also created a tremendous negative impact on Orwell’s mind. Even the opinion of his fellow Europeans differed – the older people supported his act, while the younger ones condemned it and argued that ‘it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie’. However, deep in his mind Orwell always knew that he had shot the elephant ‘solely to avoid looking a…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Review Of Langston Hughes 'Salvation Story Shooting An Elephant'
    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Review Of Langston Hughes 'Salvation Story Shooting An Elephant'

    On the other hand, the story "Shooting an Elephant” was wrote by George Orwell base on his personal experience in Moulmein, in Lower Burma .He served his country, "British Empire as a colonial administrator. The author described the effects on the oppressed Burmese Indians and theirs oppressor British Empire. The internal conflict of British men, his feelings and convictions linked to his pride from of the angry crowd. Shooting an Elephant is more than a personal experience story, is a reflection of the dilemmas of morals standards in real life and the costs that it represent as a human been and his nature as well .…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analyzing the Rhetoric Strategies of Shooting the Elepthant by George Orwell
    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analyzing the Rhetoric Strategies of Shooting the Elepthant by George Orwell

    “Shooting an Elephant” was written by George Orwell, and it describes an incident he experienced during the time he spent in a small town in India, as a police officer serving the British Empire. I found the writing interesting because of Orwell’s use of rhetorical strategies that slowly build up to the conclusion of the story, along with the peak of the action. The story ends in a detailed description of an anecdote Orwell thought of while shooting the elephant that was terrorizing the town he was positioned in. Throughout the writing, we can find different rhetorical strategies that indicate Orwell’s very careful choice of different images to get his message through.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell
    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

    George Orwell is well known, even though he died in 1950. He was British and an ex-cop. George Orwell is a very prominent author. He is known for a few of his books, written for a variety of purposes. However, this specific essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, is written to inform of us. He phrases this essay more as a narrative, which makes it not rhetorically effective. George Orwell uses great imagery and his syntax makes it simple for even high schoolers to read through his works.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting of an elephant:Personality Confict of a Britisher
    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shooting of an elephant:Personality Confict of a Britisher

    Shooting an Elephant, by George Orwell is a story how a young Orwell, while stationed in Colonial Burma, became disillusioned with Imperialism. On one occasion he was faced with the dilemma of having to destroy a wild elephant that had gotten loose in the town he was stationed in. Throughout the story the reader will be able to see two alternating voices of Orwell. The first voice is a justification of his actions, while the other voice cites an honest excuse of why he shot the elephant. More than that the story talks about power and authority, pride v/s responsibility, ethical decision making and being morally correct or incorrect.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Shooting an Elephant -Ra
    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shooting an Elephant -Ra

    In the essay entitled “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell writes, “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” (Orwell, pg#). In this exert, not only does Orwell succeed in setting the mood and foreshadowing events to come, but he also introduces us to a protagonist of little experience and relative innocence. To expedite the process of connecting the story with his audience, Orwell chronicles his tale from a first-person point of view. In so doing, Orwell aims to induce the sympathies of his readers and guide their understanding, whether condemned or condoned, as to the reasoning behind his decision in “Shooting an Elephant.”…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting An Elephant Imperialism
    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shooting An Elephant Imperialism

    Imperialism is established by more economically powerful nations interfering with the affairs of a weaker country. While many white men may often think of Imperialism as a form of civilizing the savages of a foreign land, George 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. The major role in…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting an Elephant
    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Shooting an Elephant

    Nevertheless, Orwell was deeply disturbed, as he was in a postion he did not like, and was caught in the middle where he ought to make the decision of killing the mad elephant. He was indirectly force to do this in front thousands who hated him not knowing or care that he did not want to kill the elphant but the imperialism was evil. He seem to have become a hypocrite to himself, not liking treatment of his prisoners or the smelly cages, he was uneducated felt he could do nothing even in the position he held.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Big Brother Is Watching George Orwell Symbols
    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Big Brother Is Watching George Orwell Symbols

    Orwell’s symbols are a way for him to indirectly express the characters’ feelings. He uses Big Brother as a way to show that the Party is always watching them. The paperweight and St. Clement’s Church are a way of Winston trying to recover the forgotten past. The past is something that is completely absent in this novel. The symbols provide the readers with an enhanced understanding of Orwell’s judgements and the characters…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting An Elephant Imperialism
    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shooting An Elephant Imperialism

    George Orwell is the author of “Shooting an Elephant”, a short story that uses the small incident of the murder of an elephant to portray the horrors of British Imperialism. Due to the fact that George Orwell writes a short story in the form of an essay, it contains a thesis, which is the argument about the nature of imperialism. The great thing about George Orwell’s essay is that the theme is represented throughout the plot and can be analyzed from any part of the story. This essay will discuss this thesis and how it is represented in Orwell’s short story by analyzing the literary devices used. The most influential literary devices used by George Orwell are metaphors, repetition and alliteration; others include…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Allegory In Animal Farm
    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Allegory In Animal Farm

    To begin with Orwell used three animals Old Major, Naplolem, and Guard dogs to symbolize figures of the USSR during the Russian revolution. Firstly he uses old major to symbolize Karl Marx, the author of the communist manifesto. In his writing he shines light on what's really at play in the Russian government. As a prime example of this was that both Old Major and Karl Marx were the people to speak out against…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting An Elephant Dilemma
    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shooting An Elephant Dilemma

    The protagonist and narrator of "Shooting an Elephant" made a decision that many would consider unjust. He shot and killed and elephant. Looking from the outside in, it would look as if he was a terrible person from what he did, for a vast amount of people consider the act wrong morally. Although, one must take in his intentions of the act too. He never wanted, nor planned, to kill the elephant. The Burmese people rooting him on seemed irrefutable, and he felt as if he was doing what they wanted him to. That contradicts the idea that the narrator of this story was a monstrous person because he shot an elephant.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting an Elephant
    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shooting an Elephant

    First of all, George Orwell uses the rhetorical tool metaphor in story. In the story “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell wrote that “They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer to perform a trick.” This metaphor meant that the Burmese who was following behind were waiting for Orwell to shoot the elephant. If Orwell shot the elephant then it would be like he was putting on a show since they were watching him. Another metaphor that he uses in the story is when he wrote that he was “seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind.” This metaphor meant that Orwell was the center of attention because he was being followed by two thousand Burmese people waiting for him to kill the elephant, and he was being controlled by the Burmese when he said he was an “absurd puppet.” Another metaphor he wrote, “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it...” meaning that Orwell pretended that he was strong and powerful, but he really didn’t want to shoot the elephant, he was just being pressured into doing it because if he didn’t then he would pay the price of being humiliated by the Burmese.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shooting an Elephant
    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shooting an Elephant

    One day he was notified that there was an elephant roaming around the street. The elephant was however not wild but everyone were frightened since it was enormous and disrupting. It made people even more detest when they misunderstood assuming that it had killed a native as he lay under the elephant. The situation was messed up and everyone commanded him, to kill it. In the reading, Orwell stated, “It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him”. This depicted that it was unusual and malicious of him to kill the elephant. Next, it also supported that he had no intention in killing the elephant as it was calmly eating grass just like a cow and took no notice of the crowd’s approach. Furthermore, he realized that it gave no threat for the people. However, the immense crowd just didn’t support his intention. It was a kind of a free and fascinating attraction for the people. They were looking at him like a sorcerer performing a magic trick and were momentarily worth watching performance. He wrote, “If the elephant charged and I missed him, I should have about as much chance as a toad under a steam-roller”. This sentence showed that he was anxious and tensional if the gunshot were not fired, it would be sardonic and outrageous. He shot it for about five times and it took half an hour for the hulk to die. The natives somehow were forcing him to shoot the elephant. Orwell could not do anything but shooting the elephant. The first reason he shot the elephant was to avoid looking like a fool in the public. The second reason was that he was pressured by the natives to kill the elephant.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing George Orwell And Shooting An Elephant By Langston Hughes
    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing George Orwell And Shooting An Elephant By Langston Hughes

    Salvation of Langston Hughes, dealing with their life story and experience show the set of qualities that make each author distinctive. However, the authors used a particular way to narrate their story making them alive. So this particular way used by each of them let make a critical comparison and contrast analysis related to each author personality.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics