Shooting an Elephant

One could argue that the main point of "Shooting an Elephant" is to show how colonialism corrupts the soul: not just the souls of those who are subject to colonial repression, but also the souls of...

Essays present theses. Narrative essays--describing a personal experience or a personally witnessed event--contain theses; they have a purpose and make a point. The thesis in Orwell's narrative...

In his reminiscent and reflective essay, "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell finds his role as a British officer to symbolize colonial authority. As such, the Burmese people react to him with...

It could be argued that the purpose of “Shooting An Elephant” is to reveal how imperialism affects those who live in conquered countries. This story takes place in Moulmein, a town in Burma, which...

Orwell uses the elephant metaphor to represent several elements. 1. It represents a death of his innocence so to speak. As a young employee representing Britain in a foreign land, he did not...

As a figure of colonial authority, decked out in his policeman's uniform, Orwell is naturally a figure of hate to the indigenous Burmese. He's a very visible reminder of the oppression to which...

There are multiple themes in "Shooting an Elephant," but the one that is perhaps the most central to Orwell's purpose is the fundamental moral corruption of imperialism. This is portrayed in the...

In the essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, the narrator recounts an experience he has while serving as a police officer in Moulmein, a town in Lower Burma. He explains that because he is...

Orwell’s attitude towards Imperialism is one of antipathy, and this comes through quite strongly in the opening two paragraphs. The narrator of the story uses negative terms throughout to describe...

Throughout Orwell's short story "Shooting an Elephant," he critiques imperialism by illustrating the conflicting nature of colonialism as well as the tense relationship between the ruling Europeans...

Orwell is clearly directing "Shooting an Elephant," as with most of his writings in general, toward a largely liberal audience which shares his own negative feelings about imperialism. What makes...

Orwell was a sub-divisional police officer of the British Empire in Burma when it was a colony under British rule. He was hated by the Burmese, who understandably resented his imperial presence....

The narrator knew it was pointless, wasteful and cruel to shoot the elephant. The elephant had gone on a rampage in a bazaar, destroying some property, and had killed a man but now was calm: And...

In Orwell's short story "Shooting an Elephant," a British police officer stationed in Lower Burma succumbs to peer pressure from the native people and shoots a harmless elephant against his will....

Orwell begins the essay with his narrator explaining his position in particular and the British presence in general:  “I was hated by large numbers of people—the only time in my life that I...

In many of his writings, Orwell views imperialism as a mechanism for economic power, for enabling the Western nations to have a higher standard of living by exploiting underdeveloped countries....

George Orwell's 1936 essay "Shooting an Elephant" is about a British police officer, serving the Empire in occupied Burma, who has grown weary and bitter about the role of his nation in the...

Throughout the short story, the narrator continually remarks that he has no intentions of shooting the elephant. However, when the British police officer requests an elephant gun to ensure his...

The most obvious conflict in "Shooting an Elephant" is the narrator's unwillingness to shoot the elephant that went on a rampage. This conflicts with the perceived need for him to do so as a...

In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell uses the first-person point of view. The story is told completely from his memory and perspective. This gives the reader a very one-sided view of events but...

In this essay, Orwell uses shooting the elephant to illustrate the basic irrationality and evil of imperialism. As the story opens, we learn that the narrator, a young imperial police officer in...

In the final paragraph of his essay, "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell gives a description of the reactions of the unnamed protagonist's fellow officer's to his (the character's) killing of an...

In the second paragraph, Orwell faces internal conflict over the issue of imperialism. Specifically, he has realized that imperialism is an "evil thing," despite living and working in Burma, a...

In "Shooting an Elephant," there are a number of paradoxes. Firstly, in the opening paragraph, Orwell says: As a police officer, I was an obvious target. At first glance, this seems a false...

From the beginning, "Shooting an Elephant" highlights Orwell's use of irony. The title suggests that the narrator, possibly Orwell himself, actually plans to shoot an elephant. In fact, he takes...

In the first sentence of the short-story, Orwell mentions that he was hated by large numbers of people and says that his time as a British officer stationed in Lower Burma was "the only time in my...

George Orwell was an officer in the Burmese military police and was thus despised by the local Burmese. Although the local Burmese were civilians, there is a military term which encapsulates their...

In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell advances an argument that imperialism exerts a coercive effect not just on its victims within the colonized world, but also on the colonizers themselves. This...

Orwell certainly hates British imperialism at the time of the incident he describes in his essay. He writes, For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and...

In Orwell's short story "Shooting an Elephant," the young British officer experiences conflicting feelings regarding imperialism. Although the British officer is in favor of the native Burmese...

In the famous essay "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell tells the story, presumably true or at least based on fact, of a colonial policeman, possibly Orwell himself, who is forced to hunt down...

The Indian labourer in "Shooting an Elephant" appears to have been killed instantly, crushed into the earth by the animal, though Orwell tells us that a look of "unendurable agony" showed on the...

The position of the dead coolie as the narrator describes him, lying face down with "arms crucified," holds some significant symbolism. The attitude of crucifixion suggests some sacrifice made...

The epiphany that the British officer experiences when he is forced to shoot the elephant concerns the true nature of imperialism and emphasizes how agents of the ruling imperial power are actually...

For a literary commentator, it's usually unwise to reduce a story, or even a relatively short essay like "Shooting an Elephant," to a single message. Orwell presents an episode in the daily work of...

The style of "Shooting an Elephant" is both personal and journalistic. Orwell writes using a straightforward style, setting a scene and telling a story, while providing a personal commentary on it....

One could interpret the elephant's slow, agonizing death in several ways. The elephant could represent the oppressed Burmese citizens, who are disenfranchised under British rule. The narrator's...

The intended audience of this story is English or other European people, specifically those who have no direct knowledge or understanding of what imperial rule is really like. We can see evidence...

Orwell argues, in this essay, that imperialism has a number of unintended effects. It does not, contrary to popular belief, position the white imperialist in the powerful role. In fact, it turns...

The incident in question is when he shot and killed the rogue elephant. Knowing that the elephant was really just a frightened and helpless creature that could likely easily be tamed and calmed, it...

The narrator hesitates to kill the elephant because by the time he arrives at the place where the elephant has been on a rampage, the elephant is peaceful. The narrator realizes the animal no...

What Orwell does in these quotations—as, indeed, he does in "Shooting an Elephant" as a whole—is show the corrosive effects of colonialism on the human nature of colonialists and colonized alike....

A main conflict in "Shooting an Elephant" is between the narrator's hatred of the colonial and imperialist system he is part of and his concomitant hatred of the Burmese people. As he so memorably...

In the beginning of Orwell's essay “Shooting an Elephant,” the narrator makes clear that he is opposed to the British rule of Burma. The narrator—a white policeman who is presumably Orwell...

An analogy is a comparison between two things that are not the same but resemble one another in some way. For example, a butterfly's wing is literally analogous to a bird's wing because it allows...

The two “reasons” Orwell gives are 1) working elephants are extremely valuable; shooting one would be like “destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery” and 2) to avoid being laughed at by the...

The betel is type of vine which is native to South and South-East Asia and which is commonly chewed to produce this juice. Orwell makes reference to betel juice in the first paragraph of "Shooting...

George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” was written in 1936. He was working at the time for the Police force (*imperial Indian police). The elements that he presents in the story include the...

Orwell's tone in the last paragraph of "Shooting an Elephant," is wry and sardonic as he recounts different responses to the killing. The owner of the elephant is the only who comes near to...

In the classic essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, the narrator, presumably Orwell himself, works as a police officer in Moulmein, a city in Burma, during the era of the British Raj. He...