Krissi Wester

ENG 102-104
Neuberger, Larry
12 December 2012
Shooting An Elephant
An Instance oI White Supremacy?
While Orwell may have been trying to enlighten the reader with a story regarding his
vanity oI not being made to look a Iool, he truly brilliantly portrayed the complete and
unabashed Ieeling oI white supremacy oI the British over the local Burmese residents, although
he himselI did not agree with the British Empire. Orwell begins his story oI the elephant
stating that he was hated by the locals, over which he was in Iact a policeman. The Burmese did
not know that in secret he too did not like the British Empire but he was just as unhappy with the
treatment he received Irom the locals as well. 'I was all Ior the Burmese and all against their
oppressors the British (Orwell148). As the story progresses he enlightens us to understand that
he truly does not want in his heart to kill the beast, but Ior all past teasing he had received, he
must kill it to save Iace. The white man must not show weakness. Just beIore he shot the
elephant he had an epiphany: 'I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it
is his own Ireedom that he destroys (Orwell 151).



Orwell, George, 'Shooting an Elephant. Power of Language Language of Power.
PearsonLearning Solutions, 2011. 147-54. Print.