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In George Orwell's 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 Orwell's 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 authors 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 Burman's 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 Burman's 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 corner of 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 Burman's 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. 7 th ed. Eds.
Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. New York: St. Martins Press, 1997. 91 - 97
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Research essay sample on Orwell Shooting An Elephant
