Shooting an Elephant Group

Question:

suchana
suchana
Student
High School - 12th Grade

What is the author's viewpoint in "Shooting an Elephant"?

Is there a way that the author's argument could be changed

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Posted by suchana on Tuesday September 15, 2009 at 9:18 PM and tagged with shooting an elephant, viewpoint.

Answers:


  1. kc4u Teacher
    College - Senior

    eNotes Editor

    Serving in the Imperial Police in Burma in his early youth, Orwell realised the paradox of being a sahib never to be laughed at by the natives. The author was not happy with the Burmans who used to target the Europeans for insult and mockery. He was also not happy with brutalities of Imperialist oppression unleashed on the natives, and wanted to leave his job of the subdivisional police officer. He got stuck between his hatred for the evil-spirited native Burmans and his hatred for Imperialism.

    When the author spotted the elephant reportedly gone 'must', the big animal showed no sign of madness, and he was not at all willing to kill the animal. But the two thousand strong crowd of local natives who followed him with the hope of seeing the fun of shooting an elephant virtually forced him to shoot the animal against his wish. The author could feel how he was imprisoned in the image of an European master being superior to the people he ruled.Had he left the place without shooting the elephant, a sahib would have been a worthless creature to be ridiculed.

    Orwell's essay thus highlights the irony of politico-cultural superiority, the moral paradox that ' when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys'. To that extent, the essay offers a subtle critique of Imperialism.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/shooting-elephant/style

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    Posted by kc4u on Wednesday September 16, 2009 at 2:09 AM