In life, you base a lot of your decisions on what others will think about you. Just like in the essay from George Orwell “Shooting an Elephant” he makes a decision off of what people will think about him. In the essay Orwell is faced with a decision, to kill an elephant after a rampage through his town, or to let him live. After being peer pressured by the Burman people Orwell shot and killed the elephant. Even though he really did not want too. I can think of three times peer pressure got the best of me, once when I got caught stealing at Walmart, another when I got suspended from middle school, and lastly when I lost my best friend. All of these events were from peer pressure, keep reading to see what happened. This world can be a crazy place, especially when you have a group of friends you want to impress. I tried to impress my friends when we were at Walmart awhile back by stealing. Every time we would go there, my friends would always take something and never get caught. I would always be to scared to steal, and they would always make fun of me. To make it worse, I would have to watch them enjoy their …show more content…
Since elementary school me and my old best friend would hangout every day and talk nonstop. She was my rock, the one who could help me out in any situation. Until I decided to take the blame off of another friend and blame it on her. I blamed her of stealing my mother’s money when it really wasn’t her it was another friend. I just thought that my mother knew her so well that she would forgive her easily. Boy was I wrong, ever since that day I haven’t talked to her. Even when I tried to she would just ignore me. I know that I was wrong for what I did. Ever since that day I lost my best friend and I learned a life lesson. I will never give into peer pressure again, I will always make my own choices in life and hopefully I’ll have better luck this
At the same time, the narrator is also the victim of the Imperialism System itself. Under the system, it seems that the British manipulate the Burmese, but in reality, it is the opposite situation. The Burmese had the control over the British, especially people like the author who worked in a country under colonization. Orwell
The story “Shooting an Elephant” is told by an ongoing and first person narrator, who was committed to events he was faced with and obtained insight and wisdom from these adventures even though he struggled internally and externally.
In the article "Shooting an Elephants" by George Orwell the author's story is very captivating and descriptive. “I remember that it was a cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginning of the rains.” He does not hold back the details as if he remembers them. Orwell originally did not want to shoot the elephant but feared what his peers would say, his peers being the thousand yellow faces that stood behind him if he didn't complete his job. Unfortunately, he was not in fear of his life but his duty and job called for him to against his morals and shoots the elephant. The locals had it out for him anyways, not killing elephant would have added fire to the flame of the dislike they would have for the policeman. The Burmese people play a huge role, badgering
“Shooting an Elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell, who was an Assistant Superintendent in the British Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927. The essay was published in 1936. Burma was occupied by the British over a period of 62 years (1823-1886) and it was directed as a province of India until it became a separate colony in 1937. In the essay, Orwell narrates the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and expresses the feelings that he goes through during the event. The writer’s theme is that imperialism is not an effective way of governing. It can be decoded through his
A renowned novelist and former imperial policeman, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant (1936), addresses the problems of imperialism. He argues that imperializing others, specifically Burma, will force the colonists to lose their own conscience and freedom. Orwell utilizes a variety of rhetorical elements throughout his essay to help bolster his claim. Firstly, Orwell uses first person perspective to showcase his experiences in order to establish his credibility. He then uses word choice to indicate his imperialistic sentiments and emotions. Lastly, he uses imagery to portray the pressure and emotions that were elicited while shooting the elephant. The purpose of Orwell’s essay Shooting an Elephant is to inform the reader about the inherent struggles that are engendered by imperialism. Orwell adopts a critical, subjective tone for his audience, the readers of his essay, anti-imperialists, and scholars studying imperialism.
The story of Shooting an Elephant is a short story that shows the internal struggle of a man who tries to figure out for himself if he values self respect more or others respect more. The main character is a European who works for the sub-divisional police in South East Asia. He is stationed in Burma where, even though he hates the people, he hopes the Burmese win the war. Hatred for the Burmese people is fueled by their mocking him and treatment towards him with absolutely no respect and little regard. In addition, even though the man shoots the elephant, he earlier stated that he had absolutely no resolve in him to shoot the elephant. His decision to not kill the elephant comes crumbling down when he realizes the Burmese will take notice of him if he shoots the elephant. Why would he care about what the Burmese thought of him if they hated him anyway? This is because his hatred for the Burmese is little in comparison to how much he wishes for respect and recognition. The
As society has progressed, the evolution of imperialism has come to a point where people see it has pure history. It has vanished from our daily lives as we have not recently witness a country trying to dominate another. In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, we are able to envision the lives of the Burmese as they were involuntarily controlled by the British. In the early 1900’s we are told a true story of Orwell himself where he was once established in Burma was apart of his military service. During his service, he describes his living situation by noting that the army as well as himself were not appreciated. He mentions, “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.”(1) One day he
In the story Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell shows that humans tend to fall into peer pressure and feel the need to do things that we don't actually want to do. The speaker in the story did not want to shoot this elephant but felt obligated to by his people. The speaker was a policeman in Burma when he got a call about a lost elephant. When he arrived at the scene he knew he had to kill the elephant because that's what he thought the people of his town wanted. He felt pressured to kill this innocent animal to please his people. Peer pressure can lead to atrocious choices like Steve Maraboli a psychologist, states“ Don’t let anyone dilute you. Don’t be peer pressured into being less than you are. People willing to dilute themselves for the sake of others is one of the
Peer pressure is a common aspect of society that can ultimately result in devastating consequences. Often times, one is encouraged to follow the beliefs of others by changing their values and behaviors. Whether one truly has the motive to perform such actions, those who surround always have the potential to influence our decisions. In the short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, written by George Orwell, the concept of one being pressured to perform something against their will in order to preserve their image is very prominent. This essay well illustrates how people will do whatever it takes to conform to the common beliefs of society even if it doesn’t follow what they
“Although humans exhibit strong preferences for equity and moral prohibitions against harm in many context, people’s priorities change when there is an ‘us’ and ‘them’” (Saxe). Within society, many individuals are beginning to identify with various groups that begin to tear each other down, rather than lift each other up. The urge to fit in eventually overpowers the mind of one’s independence. The need to be accepted and to have the approval of others ultimately conflicts with one’s own morals and beliefs. Although individualism is highly praised, one’s surface attributes and appearance may have a negative connotation in that they are categorized as a specific stereotype, therefore these ideas will turn toxic as one is automatically grouped
Ashley Montagu tells John Merrick’s unusual story in the book that studies human dignity, The Elephant Man. The Elephant Man, an intriguing book that captures the heart of the spirit, is the story of a simple, yet unfortunate, man. It causes one to think about life’s precious gifts and how often they are taken for granted. As the sad and unique story of John Merrick, “the elephant man,'; unfolds, all are taught a lesson about strength and courage.
“We are experiencing what is likely to be the greatest percentage loss of elephants in history,” said Richard G. Ruggiero, an official with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Ney York Times; December 3, 2012). The poaching of elephants started in the late 1800’s and is still happening today. People are slaughtering these majestic animals for their ivory tusks. Ivory has been sold on the black market for millions of dollars. Before the start of ivory poaching there were millions of elephants in the world in both Africa and India, but today because of the hunting for ivory, there are barely any of these giants left in the wild. Throughout history Europeans have been moving in on central African states to make
In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell takes place in English controlled Moulein, Burma Orwell describes an experience he went through serving as an Imperial Police officer that showed him the faults of English rule. Orwell uses symbols to represent the flaws of English Imperialism including the dead coolie, the elephant, and Orwell himself.
When I was younger, I had a friend that would not usually do the right thing over the wrong thing. For example, if this person were to find a ring on the floor, she would not turn it into lost and found, she would keep it. There was one time where she got in trouble for having something that was not hers. When I realised what happened I made sure to never in my life do something like that. I then distant myself from that person, and went on with my own life. This taught me that I should always be honest and never take something that does not belong to me. I also learned how to choose my friends wisely, which I make sure to do when I meet new people. Events like this in my life is what helps me grow into the person I am
The meaning is God would create a God-like new life in a person once he/she accepts Christ. This new life is holy. All new believers have new holy lives and thus they could follow a new pattern life. For example: