SHOOTING AN George Orwell (1903-1950)

ELEPHANT
 ABOUT AUTHOR
George Orwell was born Eric Blair in Bengal to British parents.
After completing high school in England, he went to Burma and served five
years in the Imperial Police. The British empire, consisting of the British Isles
and overseas territories, was established three centuries ago. During three
Anglo-Burman wars in the 19th century, Burma was annexed piece by
piece to British India and did not receive limited self government until 1937.
Orwell wrote about his experience in his first novel, Burmese Days. After his return to England and Europe, he
became a prolific and famous writer. His attitude towards war and government after reflected in his most
famous book Animal Farm (1945), Nineteen Eighty Four (1949), and Shooting an Elephant and other Essays
(1980). The title essay originally published in 1936 draws on Orwell’s experience as a British Police Official in
Burma ten year earlier. In the essay, he reports a “tiny incident” that gave him deeper insight into his own fears
and “the real motives for which despotic government acts. He tells how he was relentlessly drawn into a
senseless killing in order to keep himself and the British Empire from looking foolish. The essay demonstrates
superbly how a personal anecdote can illustrate a general expository point that imperialism is evil.
SUMMARY
The essay is considered by many to be a metaphor for British imperialism, a subject Orwell wrote
of critically in many of his non fiction works. Shooting an elephant based on actual events is
unknown. It has been extensively praised for its exploration of themes of imperialism and its
corrosive effect on the colonizer, the relationship between conqueror and conquered, and the effect
of the person’s conscience after they commit terrible acts for what they are told is the greater good.
Burma was held as British colony between 1886 at the conclusion of the third Anglo Burmese war
and its independence in 1948. Orwell held the post of superintendent in the British Indian Imperial
Police from 1922 to 1927, when the story takes place. This is when the narrator’s story takes place
as well, during the period of intense anti- European sentiment in Burma. Although the narrator
sympathizes with the Burmese, his official role makes him a symbol of the British occupation, and
he is frequently harassed and jeered by the locals. One day, he receives a call that a normally tamed
elephant is rampaging through a village. He heads off with the Winchester rifle and riding on a
pony to track it down. When he arrives at the village, he asked around and receive conflicting
reports from the poverty-stricken locals. He thinks the incident may have been a hoax, but soon
finds a man who has been trampled by the elephant. He sends an order for an elephant rifle and is
followed by thousand of people as he tracks the elephant to rice paddy where it is resting.
The narrator starts to have second thoughts, regretting that he has to kill the elephant now that it is
resting peacefully. However, the crowd wants to see blood and is chanting for the narrator to take the
shot. The narrator tries to stall for time, examining the elephant’s behavior and delaying to try to make
the case that maybe it does not need to be killed. However, people continue to pressure, and eventually
he takes the shot. The elephant is wounded, but doesn’t die. Several additional shots also fail to finish off
the beast, and eventually the narrator breaks down and leave the scene, unable to watch as the elephant
dies slowly of its wound. He later finds out that as soon as the elephant died, the locals striped it to the
bone and took the meat for their own purposes.
At his office, all his older colleagues agree that he made the right decision to shoot the elephant, but his
younger colleagues make the argument that elephants’ life was worth more than the man it trampled. As
the essay ends, the narrator wonders to himself if anyone will ever understand that he only made the
decision to shoot the elephant to avoid looking like a fool in front of the people he is responsible for
policing. He is filled with the self loathing for the empire he serves, as well as for the people he is
polices as he feels the conflicting interest make his job impossible. The implication is that this no-win
situation he finds himself in is the natural result of the British Empire’s attempt to administer the foreign
countries.
 Understanding
1. What is the purpose of the first two paragraphs? In what ways do they introduce the incident Orwell
narrates in his essay?
The purpose of the short story "Shooting An Elephant" is to teach the reader about what life was really like for
the Burmese under British occupation. As a result, the reader comes to understand why Orwell was "hated" by
the Burmese.
It could be argued that the purpose of “Shooting An Elephant” is to reveal how imperialism affects those who
live in conquered countries. This story takes place in Moulmein, a town in Burma, which became a British
colony in 1824.

2. What thesis about “the real nature of imperialism” does Orwell prove by narrating this “tiny
incident”?
The British Government strengthened their iron hand every where they ruled. In Burma also, it was seen badly.
Realizing the truth, the author also felt sympathy for the Burmese and went against the British. Though he
served the British Govt., he was in support of the native people. The condition of the prisoners made him cry.
They were huddling in the stinking cages. Their faces were grey and cowed. Their buttocks were filled with
wounds and they were caned ruthlessly. All these created a sense of guilt in Orwell’s mind and he thought that
imperialism is obviously evil as it never worked for the development of the country but always wanted to
suppress the common people with strong hand.
3. What are the reasons Orwell considers when he tries to decide what to do ? What does
he conclude was his main purpose in shooting the elephant?
The two “reasons” Orwell gives are 1) working elephants are extremely valuable; shooting
one would be like “destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery” and 2) to avoid being
laughed at by the Burmese in the town.

4. What kind of people does Orwell imagine will read his essay?

Orwell is speaking to the British population about their Imperial government and how it is
ineffective, hurtful, and oppressive to all. Orwell's purpose was to show the oppressiveness of
British Imperial rule.

5. Why did he really shoot the elephant?

He shoots the elephant from a safe distance, marveling at how long the animal takes to die.
He acknowledges at the end of the essay that he only shot the elephant because he did not
wish to look like a fool
 Rhetoric/Language/Writing
1. Although Orwell begins narrating the incident in paragraph 3, we do not see the elephant
until the end of paragraph 5. what details do we see? How do they intensify the dramatic
conflict?
The narrator is in conflict with his pride and his conscience over whether or not to shoot the elephant. The
elephant's “must” has passed and he is now peaceful; it would be relatively easy to keep an eye on him until the
mahout returns.
2. What techniques does Orwell use to describe the shooting as a drama? Who is the audience? How does
their attitude influence the leading actors?
Orwell describes his shooting of a rogue elephant as "perplexing and upsetting.“ the author's attitude about
several individually related incidents, and it is the literary technique of tone that conveys his bitterness toward...
4. How does Orwell pace the shooting of the elephant in paragraphs 11 and 12? How does the elephant’s
slow death affect Orwell’s point of view toward what he has done?
George Orwell immediately begins the essay by first claiming his perspective on British Imperialism. He claims
that it is evil and he is fully against the oppressors, the British. Though he is a British officer himself at the time in
Burma, he feels a certain hatred and guilt towards himself, his empire, and the “evil-spirited little beasts,” the
Burma people. In the essay, he writes not just about his personal experience with the elephant but how
metaphorical the experience is to Imperialism and his views on the matter. Orwell’s feelings are the hostile
feelings toward the British, Imperialism, and Britain’s justification for their actions in taking over Burma.