Samantha Collins

S. Hughes

19 February 2019

An Analysis of “Shooting an Elephant”

“Shooting an Elephant” is a world-renowned essay written by famous English writer

George Orwell. Specifically, the narrative is a personal essay recounting Orwell's experiences

during his time as a sub-divisional British police officer in Moulmein, a town in the British colony

of Burma. He was stationed in Burma during one of the most notorious periods of British

imperialism. During this time, the British had gained control of Burma, the then-Providence of

British India. Some Burmese territories were annexed by the British after their victory in the First

Anglo-Burmese War. Lower Burma was annexed by the British after their success in the Second

Anglo-Burmese War and Upper Burma was annexed by the British after their victory in the Third

Anglo-Burmese War. (Aung-Thwin & Steinberg 2018) Through his personal experiences and

use of juxtaposition and metaphor, Orwell effectively conveys the effects of British Imperialism

on not only Burman society but himself as well.

Since Orwell was working for the British side, the people of the town understandably had

a lack of respect for him. They successfully communicate their distrust and dislike towards the

British occupiers at every chance they got. He writes about getting tripped up on the football

field while “the referee (another Burman) looked the other way” numerous times. Orwell then

claimed that “the young Buddhist priests were the worst of all,” jeering at Europeans every

opportunity they had. All of the abuse he suffered from the Burmans was “perplexing and

upsetting,” since “theoretically—and secretly, of course,” Orwell was on their side and all against

the British oppressors. Orwell creates a great juxtaposition between the contradictory effects of
imperialism. Orwell’s principles contend against one another. “All I knew was that I was stuck

between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who

tried to make my job impossible.” On the one hand, he is against the British and the abuse they,

including himself, impose against the Burmans. On the other hand, however, he is urged to

retaliate against the impertinent actions taken upon him by the Burmans. Even though he does

not concur with the persecution opposed by his people, he hates being humiliated and

tormented by the Burmans and would rather be viewed as their superior authority. Orwell notes

that this conflicted feeling was not something that only he endured; in fact, it was the typical

feeling felt by most other British officers during the time of British colonialism.

Subsequently, Orwell finds himself dealing with an incident regarding an elephant. This

incident acts as a metaphor, impactfully using Orwell’s experience with the elephant to give

himself “a better glimpse than [he] had had before of the real nature of [British] imperialism—the

real motives for which despotic governments act.” One morning, a coworker called him up to tell

him that “an elephant was ravaging the bazaar.” Curious to see what was happening, Orwell got

on a horse and headed over to the area. He learned that it was not a wild elephant, “but a tame

one which had gone ‘must.’” When a tame elephant “attacks of ‘must,’” it means that they break

out of their chains and go wild. The only person who can handle a must elephant is its mahout.

However, the mahout traveled in the wrong direction and was now twelve hours away. The

elephant continued to cause commotion and damage to the community including the destruction

of property and livestock. Orwell then goes to the “quarter” where the elephant had been

spotted. He inquires the local people about the whereabouts of the elephant but finds that the

more information he receives, the less helpful and sensible it becomes, a common concept he’s

experienced throughout his time in Asia. “That is invariably the case in the East; a story always

sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it
becomes.” He then decides that “the whole story was a pack of lies” due to the differing stories

he is told. But then he follows an uproar that he hears from a nearby area to find that “a black

Dravidian coolie” had been killed and nearly skinned alive by this must elephant. He sends an

orderly to borrow an elephant rifle. Once he receives the rifle, he learns from the Burmans that

the elephant was in the paddy fields not too far away. He asked for the rifle not to kill the

elephant, but merely for his self-defense. However, as he starts approaching the elephant,

“practically the whole population of the quarter flocked out of the houses and followed me.” The

idea of shooting the elephant was amusing and entertaining to the community. Through the use

of repetition, he repetitively exclaims that in fact, he does not want to shoot the elephant,

especially because “it is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant.” He eventually realized

that he, against his own will and ideology, would shoot the elephant and succumb to the peer

pressure of those around him. He would now be “the white man with his gun, standing in front of

the unarmed native crowd—seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality, I was only an

absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind.” This whole story is a

metaphor comparing the finding and eventually killing of the elephant to Burma as it similarly

struggled to “remain alive” during its time of oppression by the British government.

Furthermore, Orwell himself is a metaphor for the British who became doubtful of their

job to rule against others as he began to have to start justifying his actions against the elephant

by stating that it was the legal and right thing to do. Within his profound metaphor, he uses more

direct metaphors, such as comparing himself to an absurd puppet controlled by its master, to

reinforce his point. Orwell’s use of metaphor effectively conveys the overarching message of his

entire piece, imperialism not only affects the oppressed but the oppressor as well.
 Collins 1

Works Cited

Aung-Thwin, Michael Arthur, and David I. Steinberg. “Myanmar.”

Encyclopædia Britannica,​ Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Dec. 2018,

www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar/The-initial-impact-of-colonialism​.