Shooting an Elephant by orwel

A detailed Summary of Shooting an Elephant by orwel

In George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant," he takes on the role of a Burma sub divisional police officer. Orwell takes on a job even though he dislikes and does not care not for the people he has to deal with. This can be seen throughout Orwell's essay in his word choice to describe the people, and his job, "I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of empire at close quarters"(658). Orwell has to deal with a corrupt empire in which he is too cowardly to do anything about. If Orwell were in a different setting this too would have a big effect on his decision-making, as well as his feelings for these people. Orwell must make a decision about his job or his job is going to make a decision for him. Orwell's use of word choice, color, and setting, help determine his feelings towards the Burmese people and the elephant.

The native Burmese do not take kindly to Orwell; they take every opportunity to verbally and physically attack him. One day he encountered a situation involving an elephant that had gone "must." The elephant had ransacked parts of town and he had killed a coolie. Orwell was faced with a difficult decision when it came to dealing with the elephant. He had a

After shooting the elephant multiple times, "His mouth was wide open-I could see far down in the caverns of pale pink throat"(663). This is the only time he uses color to describe anything in the story besides the Burmese people. It is as if he has more respect and cares more about an animal than he does human beings. Also, the colors used to describe the elephant such as the "pale pink" (663) and the "velvet red"(663) are more vivid and affectionate than the colors used to describe the Burmese. Colors such as yellow and grey, which he uses to describe the Burmese people, are ordinary and featureless. He gives no life to them and once again, this shows how he treats the elephant with more respect and compassion than the Burmese.

Would Orwell have such harsh feelings toward these people and his job if he were an officer in the heart of Europe? Probably not, the location has a lot do with how he feels about these "yellow faced" people. He is stationed in Burma, which affects how he relates to the people whom he governs. Had he been stationed in Europe, he would have been among his own people and perceived them as equals instead of being stationed among the Burmese and seeing them as just "yellow faces."

In his essay, Orwell's word choice to describe the Burmese people and his job is usually of a derogatory matter. "Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd- seemingly the leading actor of the peace; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro of the will of those yellow faces behind"(661). Orwell describes himself as a "white man" whil

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Approximate Word count = 1089
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels