Orwell: Shooting An Elephant Essay, Research Paper
In George Orwells ?Shooting an Elephant?, Orwell is faced with a terrible
decision. By taking the life of the elephant which so wrongly took the life of
the Indian, the killing was then justified in Orwells mind. He was taking a
stand for the lower man, which in his eyes represented himself, and showing an
overwhelming power over the elephant,or British Empire. This view will always
win the heart of the reader. The reader can feel sympathy towards Orwell
rather than hate him for taking another beings life.In the author?s lifetime, as a police officer, he is hated by many of the
Burmese people for being just that. He was an obvious target and therefore was
picked on whenever it seemed okay to do so. As Orwell states, ?when a nimble
Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee looked the other
way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter.?(91) He already viewed
imperialism as a terrible thing and wanted to get out of his job as soon as
possible. Orwell had a secret hatred for the British Empire; however, he also
had a rage against the bad spirited Burmans who tired to make his job
impossible. His incredible hatred towards the Buddhist priests was a feeling
that he considered ?the normal by-products of imperialism.?(Orwell 92) Orwell
disliked the Burmese people, but he hated the British Empire more. He just
could not show such hatred for the empire that ruled everything around him, including him. The real nature of imperialism came shining through when Orwell was called
upon to do something about a tiny incident. An elephant was ravaging the
bazaar; however, in some way it was enlightening to the author. The elephant
that had apparently gone must was not wild. It was rather tame. The Burmans were not armed and were really helpless against it. The ravishing
beast not only caused complete chaos, but also killed an Indian, a black
Dravidian coolie.? The elephant had come suddenly upon him round the corn
the hut,caught him with its trunk, put its foot on his back, and ground him
into the earth.?(Orwell 93) After witnessing this Orwell went to retrieve his
rifle. Once the author approached with his rifle in hand, the Burmese people
now began to show some excitement and interest. The near thought of the
elephant being shot ?was a bit of fun to them, as it would be to an English
crowd.?(Orwell 93) Once again Orwell found himself a puppet of the system.As a police officer, and in a sense a prisoner of the British Empire, he knew
what was expected of him. Orwell states, ?I did not in the least want to shoot
him.?(94) Orwell knew that the Burmese people did not like him, yet somehow
having the rifle in hand made himself suddenly interesting to them. ?They were
watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.?(Orwell
94) He knew that he had to do what was expected of him. He would have to
shoot the elephant. Orwell states, ?I could feel their two thousand wills
pressing me forward, irresistibly.?(94) He knew that he had become a sort of
posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of an official. He had to do what
the Burmans expected him to do. Orwell speaks of how he wears a mask and now
his face has grown to fit it. He has turned into exactly what he hated most
about them. Though he did not want to shoot the elephant, he felt it was something that had to be done. To the author elephants had a kind of
?grandmotherly air?(Orwell 95) which made him squeamish at the thought of
shooting and eventually killing one. It was what Orwell considered his hardest
task. After multiple shootings the elephant was finally dying. Orwell states, “I could not take it any longer and went away. I heard it took him half an hour to die.”(96)
Bibliography
Orwell, George. ?Shooting an Elephant.? Patterns for college writing: A
Rhetorical Reader and Guide. 7th ed. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and
Stephen R. Mandell. New York: St. Martin?s Press, 1997. 91-97