Struggle For Political Emancipation
Ashley Parham
Meggen Lyon
English 101-001
2/19/2007
Struggle for Political Emancipation
Unanticipated choices one is forced to make can have long-lasting effects. In "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell recounted an event as a British Police officer in Burma around the age of twenty. He begins the essay by describing his experiences with the local Burmese people who hated the British and found various ways by which to put the English fraternity to shame and ridicule. One day, he was informed that a forceful elephant, which had obviously lost control under the attack of "must," was ravaging a market and had killed a man, an Indian Dravidian coolie. In order not to lose his face or be jeered by the Burmese people, George Orwell finally shot the elephant after an extensive internal conflict took place. He decided that he preferred to shoot the elephant at where he thought the darting bullet would end its life, so that he wouldn't look like a fool; however, he lost his liberty when he did what was expected of him.
In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell wanted to create an understanding for the younger British citizens about the self-destruction caused by their British system of government. This narrative helped the reader comprehend figuratively how, even today, imperialism can be a double edged sword that destroys both the defeater and the defeated. The plot is arranged both chronologically and climactically, which helps build suspension and express the ideas clearly. The theme of "Shooting an Elephant" is Orwell's clear attack on imperialism and its problems, based on his personal experience back when he was working at Burma under the command of the British government. Orwell saw British rule as "an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down. . . upon the will of prostate peoples."(pg. 511) He observed firsthand the cruel imprisonments and beatings that the British used to enforce their control. Orwell stated ". . . I...
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