Shooting an Elephant

In the first two paragraphs of the essay, Orwell reveals his hatred of imperialism, a system in which one country controls and runs another country for the more powerful country's benefit. Orwell...

The principal irony in "Shooting an Elephant" is that although the story is a picture of colonialism, in which the British have placed themselves in charge of an Asian country, Orwell himself, as a...

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...

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...

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....

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 "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell examines the psychological effects of imperialism on members of the ruling European regime by illustrating his conflicting feelings as a British officer stationed...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The phrase "when the white man turns tyrant" alludes to the British Empire's oppressive imperial rule in Burma and the transformation experienced by agents of the colonial regime. The British waged...

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 "Shooting an Elephant," the Burmese people have a very negative attitude towards imperialism. This is shown clearly in the first paragraph when Orwell is describing his experience as a...

Imagery is description using any of the five senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, or smell. In the first paragraph, Orwell creates imagery by describing the way the Burmese show hatred for him....

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...

George Orwell’s short story "Shooting an Elephant" opens with the narrator discussing his setting and station in life at the time. The tone of the first two paragraphs is serious and conveys an...

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 "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...

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...

The young police officer who is based on Orwell and his own experiences in Myanmar is compelled to act by a number of factors, all of which are completely out of his control. When called to the...

On the whole, one would argue that the colonial policeman—based on Orwell himself—is indeed justified in shooting the elephant. The simple fact is that, under the circumstances, he has no choice in...

George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant talks about how imperialism and colonialism negatively affected both the oppressed and the oppressors, albeit in different ways. In the first few lines of the...

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...

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 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....

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...

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...

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 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....

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...

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 author shoots the elephant because he feels he must maintain his authority position, but he also does it from a very human position of peer pressure. He feels the two thousand wills pressing...

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...

Orwell appears to empathize with the native Burmese in a way that most of his fellow Englishmen would probably not. He knows that the Burmese have a profound contempt for colonial authority figures...

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...

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...

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...

The fourth paragraph of Orwell's “Shooting an Elephant” begins without much in the way of fanfare. The narrator goes to a poor quarter of the town where the rampaging elephant was last seen. Once...

In the story, Orwell is a sub-divisional police officer in Moulmein, Burma. He serves at the pleasure of the British Empire, and his position bestows him with great authority and influence....

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...

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....

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...

Shooting the elephant for Orwell is symbolic of his role as a colonial police officer. He doesn't want to be there; he doesn't want to act the part of an agent of imperialism, but he has no choice;...