Shooting+an+Elephant-+G.Orwell

== //"One damned thing after another" is how Aldous Huxley described the //[|//essay//]//: "a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything."// == == //As definitions go, Huxley's is no more or less exact than //[|//Francis Bacon's//] //"dispersed meditations,"// [|//Samuel Johnson's//] //"loose sally of the mind," or Edward Hoagland's "greased pig."// ==

==//Since //[|//Montaigne//] //adopted the term "essay" in the 16th century to describe his "attempts" at self-portrayal, this slippery form has resisted any sort of precise, universal definition.// == **Reader's Role ** A basic aspect of the relationship between a writer (or a writer's persona) and a reader (the [|implied audience] ) is the presumption that what the essayist says is literally true. The difference between a short story, say, and an autobiographical essay may lie less in the [|narrative] structure or the nature of the material than in the narrator's implied contract with the reader about the //kind// of truth being offered. Under the terms of this contract, the essayist presents experience as it actually occurred--as it occurred, that is, to the //version// of the essayist on the page. The narrator of an essay, George Dillon says, "attempts to convince the reader that its model of experience of the world is valid" (//Constructing Texts//, 1981). In other words, the reader of an essay is called on to join in the making of meaning. And it's up to the reader to decide whether to play along. Viewed in this way, the drama of an essay may lie in the conflict between the conceptions of self and world that the reader brings to a text and the conceptions that the persona tries to arouse. **At Last, a Definition--of Sorts ** With these thoughts in mind, we might tentatively define the essay as //a short work of nonfiction, often artfully disordered and highly polished, in which an authorial voice invites an implied reader to accept as authentic a certain textual mode of experience.// **//Sure. But it's still a greased pig. //** George Orwell’s style: Orwell’s non-fiction writing greatly differs from his fiction. His stories are real-life events utilizing first person point of view, colloquial diction and a sympathetic tone. By using a first person point of view, Orwell captures and gives a definite feeling that the narrative is his real life story. The tone in Shooting an Elephant is very straightforward. “But I did not want to shoot the elephant.” This exemplifies Orwell’s ‘sense of decency’. In the story, Orwell accounted “two thousand ‘natives’ marching at my heels.” His thoughts of what a waste it would be to kill the elephant ran through his mind, thinking of the “preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have,” considering “It would be an act of murder to shoot him”. The sensitive tone used to describe the “beast” certainly gives the reader a sympathetic feeling for the elephant. The use of the affectionate tone thoroughly works its way into Orwell’s stories. Orwell’s uses of caring tones reveal his ‘sense of decency’.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">In his fiction, Orwell powerfully utilizes imagery and symbolism, whereas in his non-fiction, he utilizes tone manipulation, colloquial diction and first person point of view. Altogether, they are literary masterpieces that constitute human decency. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Notes: **

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 1. John Lehmann, who edited both //New Writing// <span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">and //Penguin New Writing,// <span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">reprinted ‘Shooting an Elephant’ in the first issue (November 1940) of the latter. It was broadcast by the BBC Home Service on 12 October 1948.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 2. Reminiscences of George Stuart (a colleague of Orwell’s in Burma) record that when a message was brought to the club in Moulmein one Sunday morning, Orwell ‘went off in his old Ford to pick up a rifle and went in search of the elephant which was causing great damage on a semi main road and causing danger to life and limb and he shot this elephant.’ He was very nonchalant about the whole affair, according to Stuart, but got into serious trouble because the elephant was valuable and because of the influence these big firms had over the government.’ As a result, Orwell was transferred to Katha. The chief of the police service, Colonel Welbourne, was particularly angry and made a point of denigrating Orwell, saying, for example, that he was a disgrace to Eton: ‘Everyone was disgusted with the way he ran Blair down.’ Moulmein (now known as Mawlamyaing) is currently the third largest city in Burma. __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shooting an Elephant: __ __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Story background: __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">George Orwell writes of his experience in British-ruled India in the early Twentieth Century. At the time, he was a young, inexperienced soldier stationed there to help protect the Queen's interests. While he was there, he had to do something that had made some ethical conflicts within him. Judging by the way he wrote…it still does. Orwell had to kill an elephant that had run rampant in lust throughout a village. In it's wake it destroyed a truck, a hut, and a villager. The villagers were obviously upset about the ordeal and he was called upon to restore the order before anything, or anyone, was hurt. Throughout the course of the adventure, he decided that it was best to kill the animal. His reasons for doing so, however, were not as clear-cut. He said his ultimate decision was to not look bad in front of the villagers; that gave him a degree of shame. Orwell was obviously in conflict within himself about his rationale, otherwise there would be none. What is to be seen is how he was justified in shooting the elephant, regardless of what ethical or moral agonies he had suffered. Orwell needed to show solidarity among the people as a man of authority. If he had not, the presence of the troops there would deteriorate to the point of total anarchy. The creature had also trampled a hut, killed a man, a cow, destroyed a fruit stand and ate the contents, and destroyed a government garbage van. These are very valid reasons to kill it, and ensure that it will never occur again with the animal in question, as well as maintain order within the village. __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Critical comments: __
 * <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">In his essay, Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell demonstrates the futility and true horror of imperialism to his readers, mostly other imperialists. Using metaphor and allegory to support his point, he tells the story of an occasion on which he shot and killed an elephant. He plainly lays out his feelings about imperialism in a straightforward manner, with detailed metaphoric descriptions that support the purpose of his essay.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Orwell precedes the anecdote of his time in Burma with his basic opinion on imperialism, that ". . . [it is] an evil thing." He then goes on to explain in detail the dirty conditions of those under the rule of British imperialism and his own confusion about his ". . . hatred of the empire [he] serve[s] and [his] rage against [the citizens of Burma]." This sets the scene for Orwell's launch into his elaborate metaphors. This story strictly symbolizes imperialism and its affect on man. The elephant and the crowd symbolize imperialism, while Orwell symbolizes a citizen living under imperialism. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Type of Work ** //<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Shooting an Elephant" is a short story that is also sometimes classified as an essay. It first appeared in 1936 in the autumn issue of //New Writing//, published twice a year in London from 1936 to 1946. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Setting ** //<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The setting is Burma (present-day Myanmar) in the 1920s, when the country was a province of India. The action takes place in the town of Moulmein in the southern part of the province, called Lower Burma, a rice-growing region on the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Historical Background ** //<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Burma (present-day Myanmar) became a province of India on January 1, 1886, when India was part of the British Empire.

//<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">European interest in India began when the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrived there in 1498. In 1600, England chartered the East India Company to exploit Asian resources and within decades established trading posts in key Indian cities. Over the next two-and-a-half centuries, Britain expanded its economic interest in India. In 1858, Britain transferred control of India from the East India Company to the British government. The British overlords directly imposed their will and their ways on three-fifths of the populace in what became known as "British India" and indirectly on two-fifths of the populace in autonomous native states.

//<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Meanwhile, after fighting three wars with the Burmese—the first from 1824 to1826, the second in 1852, and the third in 1885—the British gained control of Burma and incorporated it into India.

//<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Britons dominated the economic, political, and social life of the their conquered lands. The British got the best jobs, held the top government posts, and exploited the natural resources. They also erected social barriers between themselves and the natives. All the while, native resentment of the English was building. In the twentieth century, this resentment continued to increase. George Orwell and other writers, including [|E.M. Forster], were among dissident voices that called attention to the evils of British imperialism. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Characters ** **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Narrator **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Young Englishman serving as a police officer in Burma in the 1920s, when Burma was part of British-controlled India. He strongly opposes the oppressive British rule of Burma and the rest of India. At the same time, he resents the ridicule he receives from the natives, who are unaware that he is on their side politically. The narrator's views represent those of the author, George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Blair).

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sub-Inspector **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Burmese officer who calls the narrator for help after an elephant gets loose in town.

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Black Dravidian Coolie **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Indian laborer from the town of Coringa, India, who is killed by the elephant. A Dravidian is a lower-caste Indian who speaks his own language, Dravidian.

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Friend of the Narrator **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Man who provides the narrator an elephant gun.

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Police Orderly **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Person who fetches an elephant gun for the narrator.

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mahout **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Owner of the elephant. He becomes very angry after learning that the narrator has killed his elephant. A mahout is a skilled elephant trainer and handler.

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Indian Constables **

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Crowd of Townspeople ** **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Conflicts ** //<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The narrator experiences three conflicts: one with the Brtitish Empire because of its unjust occupation of Burma, one with the Burmese because of their mockery of him as a representative of the British Empire, and one with himself in his struggle with his conscience and self-image. In literary terms, the first two are external conflicts (because they are outside him) and the third is an internal conflict (because it is inside him). All three conflicts complicate his ability to make objective, clear-headed decisions. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Narrator's Point of View and His Shortcomings ** //<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... //<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The narrator tells the story in first-person point of view. He blames British tyranny and Burmese reaction to it for his troubles, as the following paragraph indicates: <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">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. With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in **//saecula saeculorum//**, upon the will of prostrate peoples; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts. Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you can catch him off duty. <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The narrator also asserts that “when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” But is he simply making excuses for his own shortcomings? After all, he could refuse to shoot the elephant and walk away. True, he would lose face. But he would retain his honor; his conscience would remain clear. However, under pressure to kill the beast, he cannot muster the courage to oppose the will of crowd. So he decides to shoot the elephant (even though he admits that he is a “poor shot with a rifle”). But that decision is not his only mistake. He also errs when he fails to seek advice—from someone in the crowd, from the sub-inspector, or from the owner of the elephant gun—on where to direct his shot. After firing the first shot at its skull in front of an ear, he wounds but does not kill the elephant. He then fires two more cartridges at the same spot. But the elephant, though down, refuses to die. The narrator then makes a bloody mess of things. First, he fires the last two elephant-gun cartridges into the body of the elephant in hopes of hitting the heart. When that strategy fails, he fires several rounds from his Winchester into the elephant's mouth and body. The elephant remains alive, and the narrator can do nothing but walk away. The elephant lies in agony for another half-hour before dying.

<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">One may conclude that, yes, the British government is condemnable for its subjugation of the people of Burma. One may also conclude that individual British overseers are reprehensible for allowing government policy to run roughshod over their consciences.

<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Themes ** __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Evil of Imperialism __ <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Imperialism is evil. First, it humiliates the occupied people, reducing them to inferior status in their own country. Second, it goads the occupiers into making immoral or unethical decisions to maintain their superiority over the people. In “Shooting an Elephant,” the narrator acts against his own conscience to save face for himself and his fellow imperialists. __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Loss of Freedom in a Colonized Land __ <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">When imperialists colonize a country, they restrict the freedom of the natives. In so doing, the imperialists also unwittingly limit their own freedom in that they tend to avoid courses of action that could provoke the occupied people. In “Shooting an Elephant,” the narrator realizes that he should allow the elephant to live, but he shoots the animal anyway to satisfy the crowd of natives who want him to kill it. He then says, <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives," and so in every crisis he has got to do what the "natives" expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. __<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prejudice __ <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although the narrator seems to respect the natives as fellow human beings, other Europeans regard the Burmese and Indians with contempt—an attitude made clear near the end of the story: "[T]he younger [Europeans] said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie."

<span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Historically, the British placed their own men in positions of authority in the colonial government in India, which then incorporated Burma, and natives in inferior positions. Moreover, the British generally did not socialize with the natives. __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Resentment __ <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The natives resent the presence of the British, as would any people subjected to foreign rule. They ridicule the British from a distance and laugh at them whenever an opportunity presents itself. In turn, many of the the British despise the natives. And so, there is constant tension between the occupier and the occupied. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Vocabulary ** __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">bazaar __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: marketplace on a street with walk-in shops and outdoor stalls.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">coolie __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: unskilled laborer.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Coringhee __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: From or having to do with the town of Coringa, India. It is in the state of Andhra Pradesh in the southeastern part of the country.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dravidian __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: lower-caste Indian who speaks his own language, Dravidian.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">imperialism __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: policy of controlling weak or underdeveloped countries for economic, political, and military purposes.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">in saecula saeculorum __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: in this age and for all ages; now and forever; forever and ever; for eternity; until the end of the world.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">mahout __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: skilled elephant trainer and handler.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Raj, British __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: British government rule in India, of which Burma was a part; the period when the British government ruled India.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">sahib __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: master, sir. Indians and Burmans used the word when addressing an Englishman. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Climax ** <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The climax occurs when the narrator decides under pressure that he must shoot the elephant. **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Symbols ** <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Following are examples of symbols in "Shooting an Elephant": __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">mad elephant __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Symbol of the British Empire. Like the elephant, the empire is powerful. When the elephant raids the bazaar (marketplace), he symbolizes the British Empire raiding the economy of Burma. When he kills the coolie, he represents the British oppressing the natives.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">dead coolie __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Symbol of the downtrodden Burmese. Note that Orwell says his arms are outstretched like those of the crucified Christ.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">football (soccer) __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Symbol of British imposition of their culture on their colonies. Modern soccer was developed in England in the the 19th Century.

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">mud __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Symbol of the squalor in which the Burmese must live under British rule. It is also a symbol of the political mire that the British created for themselves when they colonized India and Burma. **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figures of Speech ** <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Following are examples of figures of speech in the story. __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alliteration __

//<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Repetition of a Consonant Sound // **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">y **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ellow faces of **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">y **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">oung men that **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">m **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">et **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">m **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">e everywhere,

**<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">c **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">owed faces of the long-term **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">c **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">onvicts

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I marched down the hi **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ll **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">, **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">l **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ooking and **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">f **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ee **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">l **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ing a **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">f **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ool. . ..

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">w **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">as **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">m **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">o **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">m **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">entarily **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">w **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">orth **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">w **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">atching.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">He **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">l **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ooked **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">s **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">udden **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">l **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">y **<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">s **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">tricken,

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">An enormous **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">s **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">enility **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">s **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">eemed to have **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">s **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">ettled upon him. __<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anaphora __ <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anaphora is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of a clause or another group of words. Anaphora imparts emphasis and balance, as in the following examples: **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> of the people said that the elephant had gone in one direction, **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">some **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> said that he had gone in another, **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">some **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> professed not even to have heard of any elephant.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I looked at the sea of yellow faces above the garish clothes—faces **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">all **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> happy and excited over this bit of fun, **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">all **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> certain that the elephant was going to be shot. .  __<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Metaphor __

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Comparison of Unlike Things Without Using Like, As, Than, or As If // <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. (Comparison of wills to a physical force)

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. (Comparison of the narrator to a puppet) __<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Oxymoron __

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Combination of Contradictory Terms // <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">grinning corpse __<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Onomatopoeia __ <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was breathing very rhythmically with long **<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">rattling **<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> gasps,

__<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paradox __

// <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Contradictory statement that may actually be true // <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[A] story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. __<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Simile __

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Comparison of Unlike Things Using Like, As, Than, or As If // <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The friction of the great beast's foot had stripped the skin from his back as neatly as one skins a rabbit. (Comparison of the elephant's action to that of a man skinning <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">..... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">a rabbit)

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[T]he elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. (Comparison of the elephant to a cow)

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[H]e seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. (Comparison of the elephant to a rock)

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet. . . . (Comparison of blood to velvet) **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Author Information ** <span style="color: white; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 12pt;">George Orwell (1903-1950) was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair. Orwell, a British citizen, was born in Motihari, India, in 1903, and attended school in England. Between 1922 and 1927, he served the British government in Burma as an officer of the Indian Imperial Police. After becoming disenchanted with British treatment of the native Burmese, he left the police service, traveled in Europe, and in 1934 published his first novel, //Burmese Days//, which impugned British imperialism. He also wrote several fine short stories, including "Shooting an Elephant," which are based on his experiences in Burma. His most famous works, both of which warn of the dangers of totalitarianism, are his novels [|//Animal Farm//] and //1984//.


 * An essay on Shooting an Elephant: Feel free to take your own ideas from this for your commentary:**

Andrew Browning Shooting An Elephant George Orwell 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.

The entire mood of the essay is set when Orwell illustrates the setting to be a “cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginnings of the rains.” This in turn sets the tone of Orwell’s speech to be weak and discomforting. He already has established the fact that his character is weak when he introduces the Burma people and how they laugh and mock him, the British officer. The build-up of finding the elephant is a metaphor itself showing the destructive power of imperialism: the elephant’s rampaging spree destroying homes, food shelves, and even killing a man whom Orwell described to have an expression of unendurable agony. Upon finally finding the elephant, Orwell says “I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” But when he lays eyes at the huge mass of people behind him he changes his stance to “…but I did not want to shoot the elephant.” Orwell then repeatedly states how immoral and guilty it is to shoot the elephant. Despite the many reasons to not shoot the elephant such as how it is worth more alive rather than dead, or how he is a “poor shot,” he ultimately falls into the expectations of the Burma people. Against his will and moral belief he decides to kill the elephant.

Orwell uses the death of the elephant as another metaphor of British Imperialism in Burma. On a side-note, Burma was a free kingdom until British expansion came in. There were three wars between the British oppressors and the Burmese. There was the first Anglo-Burmese War in 1824, and then the second in 1852. Finally the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885 was when the British finally took on total control of Burma. In his essay, he writes “When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick…I fired again into the same spot…I fired a third time. That was the shot that did it for him.” Three wars, three shots. The elephant is a symbol of Burma and it’s struggle to remain alive. Finally staying down after the third shot the elephant still lives, just as the Burmese people are still there but with less strength and hope after the wars. They are now controlled by the British. It can also be looked upon that the elephant’s death was a metaphor for the decline of British rule in Burma too and how they slowly went away or died off. There is a sense of guilt Orwell gives when he mentions seeing the elephant laying there “powerless to move and yet powerless to die.” As some Britians became doubtful of their right to rule others, both sides began to feel hatred, and resentment toward the British Empire. Orwell made himself believe that he was right and it was legal to kill the elephant, by making ideas to justify what he had done, by stating “legally I did the right thing, a mad elephant has to be killed, like a mad dog, if its owner fails to control it.” Orwell even shows a different light when he admits he is glad the villager was killed in the attack because legally that too justifies what he has done. But still he knows the truth to be false. The elephant could have been saved without unnecessary harm but Orwell chose the latter. Orwell uses other metaphors such as when he compares himself to being a magician about to perform a trick, or as being a lead actor in a piece, and even an absurd puppet, a posing dummy, and to be wearing a mask. Holding the “magic rifle” the Burmans of course expected him to kill the elephant. Even being a white man, the authority, it was even more expected. It is then Orwell claims he realizes the true position of whites in the East and how Imperialism hurts not only the victims but the oppressors. Orwell explains how when the white man turns tyrant it is their own freedom they destroy. Being the white man, Orwell says, they constantly must impress the natives and do what the natives expect of them. The natives have the control of the white man. Thus Orwell must complete his role, what is expected of him, and do definite things. Orwell realizes that throughout his entire rule in Burma he is actually the victim of the Burmese, and it is their expectations of what he should do with his power that force him to do what they want.

Orwell mentioned himself to be like an actor in a play. The Burman crowd behind him, the audience. He uses this image again later on when finally takes aim for the elephant’s head. He describes the feeling to be like theatre curtains finally opening to a waiting spectators. He makes many comparisons that demonstrate his weakness in character. He is puppet being controlled. He is forced to wear a mask constantly and play the role of a powerful white man. Orwell gives many small examples that hint the double-edged sword factor of imperialism and how it is overall bad for everyone. George Orwell uses his personal experience with a moral dilemma to convey to the reader the evils which result from colonial politics and imperialism. He blends his own personal thoughts and opinion into his story. Numerous times it can be seen he puts his personal commentary on some points in the story such as when he described how a dead man does not look peaceful or even the entire sequence when he contemplated on whether to shoot the elephant or not. Orwell also uses some connotations and denotations in the essay. For example he refers to the large crowd of people behind him as “an army of people.” Not only does army make the reader think of a large crowd but to be military-like and force Orwell to change his actions. George Orwell’s //Shooting an Elephant// is a great essay combining personal experience and political opinion. The transitions he makes between narration and the actual story is so subtle the flow of the essay is easy to read. More than just falling into peer-pressure, Orwell proclaims what a dilemma it is when people expect groups of people to do certain things and do certain actions. Humans can be influenced so easily. And he shows how the influences of Imperialism harm both sides. Orwell demonstrates this perfectly by turning himself, who is supposed to be the higher power, into the victim! Truly it is a tragedy, Orwell implies, how human beings will do certain things just to “avoid looking a fool.”