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Imperial Rule in Shooting an Elephant

            The juxtaposition of the policeman and the elephant in George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant is a clear representation of the impact of imperial rule on a country. The helplessness of the people of Burma against the imperialists is portrayed through the elephant's inevitable death as well as the moral dilemma the policeman faces. The event of the elephant's death is quite clearly enough to show the impact of imperial rule on the country as a whole however; Orwell goes to the extent to show how imperial rule affects the individual as well through the policeman's struggle to overcome the hatred of the people.
             The necessity the policeman feels to be appreciated and not hated by the people is strictly so he can learn to over come the hatred he feels for himself. The policeman confesses, "I was hated by large numbers of people " the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. " For someone to only feel important when they are hated by large quantities of people proves that he has an abundance of self-loathing festering inside of him. His hate for the imperialists that he works under is the underlying cause for why the policeman feels so poorly about doing the job that he is entitled to do and him self. .
             As the policeman stands before the elephant he proclaims, "As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him. " He is faced with the moral dilemma of whether to please the people of Burma and kill the elephant or to spare the elephant's life. To the policeman this event represents his everyday struggle that he faces in Burma. He is sided with the oppressed people of Burma however; he is a European officer working for the British, who is oppressing these people. The policeman knows these people are harmless when they are not being forced to act in such a way, just like he says about the elephant when he is deciding whether to shoot it or not.


Essays Related to Imperial Rule in Shooting an Elephant

1. Shooting and Elephant Analysis

The essay "Shooting an Elephant," by George Orwell, is set in time during the 1800's when the country of Burma had been conquer and put under British imperialistic rule. "Shooting an Elephant," is illustrated through the eyes of Orwell himself while working as a British Imperial Officer during this time of British rule. ... Likewise, in "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell demonstrates these views by describing his own experience with political and social injustice. ... As the essay proceeds, Orwell is overwhelmed by an unparalleled force pressuring him to shoot th...

  • Word Count: 951
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. George Orwell and Politics

And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all" (105). ... And at the end of the essay, he says that his real motive of shooting the elephant is only "to avoid looking a fool" (115). ... When the young European men knew that Orwell had shot the elephant, they were mad about it: "It was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie" (115). ... It is obvious that these authoritative and inhumane images of the oppressor comes true in "Shooting an Elephant" as w...

  • Word Count: 1153
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography

3. orwell

Orwell displays political consciousness and anti fascism by presenting the wreck of human lives when they are ruled under a colonial and dictatorial government. ... In the essay, " Shooting an Elephant, " Orwell begins to commiserate with the tyrannized. ... Moreover, it informs the reader how poverty-stricken and desperate the Burmese are; the importance of the elephant meat for it becomes a source of nourishment. In this era of imperialism, the dominion whites assume that the elephant costs much more than the life of the coolie and feel that he is better off dead because their mind have been...

  • Word Count: 959
  • Approx Pages: 4

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