How Did George Orwell Get Involved In Shooting An Elephant

In "Shooting an Elephant", Orwell succumb to the expectation of the public which is to shoot the elephant dead even though it is against what he believes in.

People often do favors to please others, even if it means a loss of dignity. George Orwell’s short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, is an ideal example. In the story, Orwell, the main character, works as a policeman in Burma in the 1930s for the British Empire. One day, an elephant tramples loose, and although Orwell has no intent on shooting the elephant, a mob of native Burmese pressures Orwell to shoot the elephant. He reluctantly acquiesces to prevent being humiliated. After that experience, Orwell writes “Shooting an Elephant” to demonstrate native resentment of the British through mood, to reveal the tyranny of imperialism and its effects on the natives through imagery, and to informs the reality of the natives manipulating the British through foreboding diction. All of these purposes support Orwell’s ultimate purpose of ending imperialism and colonization.

Elizabeth Lozano English 101 Mrs. 13 November 2014 The Individual and Society There are two readings in which can be seen implying the relationship between the individual and society, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, by Gloria Anzaldua and “Shooting an Elephant”, by George Orwell. These readings speak of an incident that arises within a culture and what they had to face in order to be accepted by society. For instance, Gloria Anzaldua expresses the social (and cultural) stresses that Latin immigrants have to face when being raised in the United States. On the other hand, George Orwell describes the effects and downfall of imperialism while creating a story line of the pressure that society causes in order for an individual to do what is

George Orwell describes to us in “Shooting an elephant” the struggle that his character faces when to win the mobs approval and respect when he shoots down an innocent animal and sacrifices what he believes to be right. Orwell is a police officer in Moulmein, during the period of the British occupation of Burma. An escaped elephant gives him the opportunity to prove himself in front of his people and to be able to become a “somebody” on the social

Peer pressure is when someone gets encouraged to follow their peers by changing their attitude, values, or behavior to fit in with those of the influencing group or individual. Hughes and Orwell engage in the art of persuasion on the topic of peer pressure and how it can cause you to do things you may not believe in, and I find myself persuaded by their appeals because I share many of their audiences' characteristics. The main point in Salvation is to describe Hughes's experience of being saved which resulted in him being disappointed in himself and in Jesus. In addition, he lied to the church and felt guilty because of it. Being "saved" caused Hughes to lose faith in God which shows how pressure on a child who does not know what is going

Shooting an Elephant In George Orwell's essay, "Shooting an Elephant" he demonstrates the effects on a man by playing a false role: "He wears a mask and he grows to fit it". Orwell means that the mask represents something that he is appearing to be but isn't. Over time, the mask becomes who he is since he hasn't been changed back to himself in a long time. The mask he's wearing actually becomes a part of who he is in reality. In today's society everyone is playing a false role.

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, is an interesting essay that shows the audience the effect of insecurity and peer pressure. The essay starts off with setting up what exactly Orwell is dealing with in Moulmein. While he holds symbolic authority and military supremacy and is also “theoretically —and secretly” on their side by being opposed to the oppressive British empire he serves, He is an outsider, and he is still powerless to stop their insults and abuse he receives from oppressed Burmese. When an elephant causes mayhem around the town Orwell takes charge of trying to find it. When the creatures is seen nearby, Orwell asks for a gun. This leads for him a mistake he unintentionally made. He was not planning on to shooting the elephant,

“To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing – no, that was impossible” (137). Orwell felt that the Burmese would laugh at him and throughout his whole life; every white men’s life would be one long struggle not to be laughed at (137). During his time in Burma, Orwell had to deal with many of the locals being mean to him and getting laughed at for it. He knew if he did not shoot the elephant, it would give the people an opportunity harass him even more. Shooting the elephant gave him a chance to show the people that he was not the fool they all made him out to be.

Orwell next faces the moral dilemma of whether or not to shoot the elephant. At first, it is clear that he does not feel the internal urge to shoot the elephant: "It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him" (Orwell.525). However, Orwell's virtue becomes dwarfed as the Burmese's "two thousand wills [press him] forward"(524) to kill the elephant. At this point there is an obvious role reversal as the Burmese begin to strongly influence Orwells decisions. Because he constantly dwells on what the crowd will think of him he shoots the elephant. Thus submitting to the will of the people and committing the immoral deed of abandoning ones own conscious because of the pressure of others.

Have you ever been pressured into doing something you didn’t want to, but felt like you had no other option? The narrator in Orwell's, “Shooting an Elephant” had a very similar experience. He was pressed by the Burmese into committing a senseless killing that he did not deem necessary. This transformation of the main characters mentality and morals gives the audience a terrific example of characterization, which would not be possible without the effective use of point of view in Orwell's story.

and disrupting the little bit of peace that they have. So in that instant he

•George Orwell, who is also the narrator, is a British police officer. •Burmese people cannot stand the British, but the Burmese need their help. •Orwell gets sent to Burma to kill an elephant. •The elephant has destroyed most of the town and also killed a man. •Being pressured, Orwell had to shoot the elephant.

Story is about a Burma village where an elephant got loose and wreaked havoc on the town and kills a villager (a man). George Orwell is the sheriff and ultimately makes the choice to kill the elephant.

There are many different reasons as to why George Orwell chose to shoot the Elephant in the short story, ”Shooting an Elephant”. In the following essay, there will be a wide and deep response of why George Orwell chose to shoot the elephant in the end.

Imagine being placed in a situation that holds the fate of a breathing elephant, the largest land animal in the world. Would you spare its life or begin the end of it in a blink of an eye? In Eric Arthur Blair’s essay Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell, arguably Blair himself, was once confronted with this very question. As an English police officer in Burma during the Age of Imperialism, Orwell was called upon to investigate an aggressive elephant that was ravaging a local bazaar and later discovered, even killed a man. When he finally located the mammal, “at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow” (Orwell 2). Orwell’s immediate thoughts were that he ought not to shoot the creature “I had no intention of shooting the elephant--I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary” (2). However, Orwell’s initial thoughts would not be put into action. Orwell would later go on to kill the elephant with three shots aimed at the brain as over two thousand native people