George Orwells Shooting a Elephant free essay sample

He shows the similarities between the smaller act of killing the elephant versus the larger act of the empire occupying Burma by describing the internal conflict he wrestled with while trying to decide what course of action to take. On one hand I agree that he needed to shoot the elephant to preserve the respect and admiration bestowed upon him by the waiting crowd. On the other hand, I feel that he compromised his moral and ethical standards just to avoid looking like a fool. In Moulmein, Burma, George Orwell is a police officer during a period of intense anti-European sentiment. As such, he is subjected to constant baiting and jeering by the local people. After receiving a call regarding a normally tame elephants rampage, Orwell, armed with a . 44 caliber Winchester rifle, goes to the town where the elephant has been seen. Entering one of the poorest quarters, he receives conflicting reports and almost decides it has just been a bunch of lies when he hears screams nearby. We will write a custom essay sample on George Orwells Shooting a Elephant or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He then sees a village woman chasing away children who are looking at the corpse of an Indian whom the elephant has trampled and killed. He sends an orderly to bring an elephant rifle and, followed by a group of at least two thousand people, heads toward the paddy field where the elephant has decided to rest. Although he does not want to kill the elephant, Orwell feels pressured by the demand of the crowd for the act to be carried out. I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. After inquiring as to the elephants behavior and delaying for some time, he shoots the elephant multiple times, first with the elephant rifle and then with his Winchester, but is unable to kill it. He then leaves the elephant, unable to be in its presence as it continues to suffer. He later learns that it was stripped, nearly to the bone, within hours. While the elderly Europeans agree that killing the elephant was the best thing to do, the younger ones believe that it was worth more than the Indian it killed. Orwell thinks to himself that he only did so to prevent himself from looking like a fool. Orwell’s argument is about the nature of imperialism. Although his sympathies lie with the Burmese, his official role makes him a symbol of the oppressive imperial power. He states his displeasure in paragraph two â€Å"For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. † He promotes the idea that through imperialism, both the oppressed and the oppressor are ruined. He states at one point â€Å"I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys†. This is where I believe he began to get a better glimpse into the true nature of imperialism- meaning that even though he knew shooting the elephant was the wrong choice, he had already made the decision to do so when he sent for the elephant rifle. At that point it was much too late to admit he was wrong, in front of all these people who hated him for what he represented. Orwell’s story is very captivating due to the sequence of events and the emotions he expresses at various parts. At the beginning of the story he states how he feels â€Å"perplexed and upset† by the way he is treated by the natives. At another part he explains that although he hates his job â€Å"bitterly†, he feels stuck â€Å"between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible. † As the elephant rampages on, his description of his surroundings become more detailed. When he enters the quarter where the elephant was last seen, he talks of how it is a very poor quarter, â€Å"a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts, thatched with palm leaf†. He even recalls the weather that morning as being â€Å"a cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginning of the rains†. I believe this is a story that everyone should read because I think Orwell wrote it to educate his readers against the dangers of imperialism and â€Å"the real motives for which despotic governments act. † After shooting the elephant, he realized the main motivation for imperialism is to follow through with certain actions in order to avoid admitting being in the wrong. I feel that he thought imperialism created more problems than solutions and if we blindly partake in such movements, we could surely find ourselves marching into unwarranted wars. In conclusion, due to situational ethics, I do believe he made the correct choice in shooting the elephant. If he had not killed the elephant, I believe the villagers would have attacked him. Most of them were interested simply for the elephant meat they would be able to obtain from the carcass. I think that had it been a different situation, he may not have made the decision he did. I also think that if he had the chance to go back and re-do it, with knowledge of how the previous attempt went, the only thing he would have done differently would have been to shoot the elephant in a more effective, humane way.