George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” was a piece that impacted me greatly. Even though it described a rather disturbing event, what made the biggest impression on me was Orwell’s sincerity and honesty. I believe that those components make it a gripping piece because Orwell is relatable, observant, and truthful. In the text he incorporates figurative language, description, and allows readers to see his innermost thoughts by using first person narration.
In the essay Orwell explains the current conflict between Burma and England. He is in a difficult situation because England was occupying Burma while he was an officer. The people of Burma were completely against anyone European because of the imperialistic forces that occupied their nation. Orwell does an excellent job of showing that he is an alien in this land by providing personal anecdotes. “A nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowed yelled with hideous laughter (Orwell)”. By personifying the crowd and calling it hideous, he emphasizes his embarrassment even more. Despite the difficulty Orwell faces he understands the native people. “I was stuck between the hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my life impossible (Orwell)”. One day Orwell gets a call to kill an elephant that is running loose. He finds out the elephant has killed a man and continues to look for it. Finally, he locates the elephant, but realizes he does not want to kill it. He realizes the crowd is only interested in following him because they want to see him kill the elephant and then take its parts to make money off them.
Orwell continuously struggles because he sees that at the current moment the elephant is peaceful. He does not want to kill it. With the crowd looking upon him will glaring eyes he realizes he has to kill the elephant to please them. In a way I think he did this so he wouldn’t be embarrassed but also because he wanted to be accepted into this foreign land. Even though we do not always have to make choices on the scale that Orwell did we are still faced with similar issues. Many times we do something we do not want to do just to assimilate, “avoid looking a fool” or find some sense of community. We sometimes thrive on other people’s opinions and need their approval or just can’t handle embarrassment. “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”, said Orwell. Orwell shows how he did not want to kill the elephant, by calling his actions murder. The details involving the elephant’s death are hard to read. The elephant did not die instantly and suffers immensely which causes Orwell to shoot it numerous times so it can die with less pain. His simile emphasizes his guilt. “The tortured gasps continued as steadily as the ticking of a clock (Orwell)”. He can not take it any more so he leaves the elephant.
Orwell uses this anecdote to express his feelings on imperialism. He hates it and uses the elephant as a symbol. Imperialism is when a nation uses its power and force to expand into other countries. It is a form of greed. To get more power a country attacks another. The elephant represents Burma. George is the British force that has taken advantage of a defenseless body. The British attacked Burma and they had no force to fight back but only obey. The elephants only protest is the final noise he makes with his trunk. This is almost like the small uprisings the people were having in Burma. The people are trapped like the elephant. They can only serve a master after falling. The people of Burma could not fight back, but they could not disappear because it was their home. They had to deal with British occupation. Orwell hated imperialism because it made him a puppet. He had to serve his nation even though he did not agree with it because he had no other option. The white man “becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventional figure of a sahib (Orwell)”. He was doing his job, not expressing his beliefs. Orwell depicts how detrimental imperialism is and the lengths someone will go just to receive another figure's approval.
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