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Shooting an Elephant
In George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant", imperialism
is a system of power that, from the perspective of
those carrying it out and those upon whom it is
enacted, is unnecessary and unwanted. The essay
deconstructs Orwell's experiences and perceptions of
the British Empire. His extended metaphor combined
with his vivid imagery draws attention to his
helplessness as a government representative, and as a
human being, in order to prove his argument that
imperialism is evil.
In Orwell's discussion of the Burmese people, he
establishes the initial complicated situation
regarding interaction between Europeans and natives in
the first two paragraphs. The British are there to
rule over another country, and expect the Burmese to
accept their predicament. Though Orwell doesn't
support the British Empire, he is still an officer. He
is annoyed at the "Bhuddist priests" that "jeer at
Europeans;" he feels guilt at watching "prisoners
huddling in the stinking cages of the lockups, the
grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the
scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with
bamboos." This is a result of imperialism. As a human
being, Orwell struggles with doing his duty and
accepting such agonizing mistreatment of individuals
who are punished because they cannot adhere to
cultural expectations that aren't their own. Orwell
understands the oppression of the Burmese, and
personally seems to tolerate their actions.
In revealing the tensions he experiences, as well as
the conflicts inherent to imperialism, Orwell deploys
a narrative of an elephant in "must" as an extended
metaphor for the British Empire. The elephant has had
a fit and has been attacking a certain part of town,
including killing one of the Burmese. However, the
Burmese have no weapons to defend themselves. As a
metaphor, the elephant is clearly the British who have
been oppressing the powerless Burmese. Orwell
describes one of the victims: "His face was coated
with mud, the eyes wide open, teeth bared and grinning
with an expression of unendurable agony." This vivid
imagery depicts the suffering of native peoples at the
hand of the British empire as much as it conveys what
happened when the man was trampled by the elephant.
Thus all the more weight is added to Orwell's
obligation to do something about the elephant.
It is imperial policy that an elephant that has killed
someone must be shot. Moreover, it is expected by the
Burmese themselves. Orwell comments how "they had not
shown much interest in the elephant when he was merely
ravaging their homes, but it was different now that he
was going to be shot." Orwell is reluctant to shoot
the elephant, particularly because by the time he's
acquired the necessary gun and located the elephant it
is no longer in must. When Orwell finds the animal, he
presumes it "would merely wander harmlessly about
until the mahout came back and caught him." There is
therefore no pressing need to shoot the elephant other
than official imperial policy mandating it must be
done. The elephant as an extended metaphor indicates
that Orwell felt the British Empire had also survived
its recent fit and was returning once more to calm.
Nonetheless, within the narrative itself, Orwell, as
an officer holding an elephant gun, is forced by
public perception to use that gun on an elephant that
is no longer a menace to society. Orwell's position is
one of a reluctant individual who does not want to do
what he is being made to do by both the empire and the
Burmese. As Orwell reminds the reader, "if anything
went wrong those two thousand Burmans would see [him]
pursued, caught, trampled on and reduced to a grinning
corpse like that Indian up the hill." Orwell is
therefore stuck between what the empire would do to
him and what the imperialized would do to him. Orwell
therefore takes aim and shoots the elephant, wounding
but not killing the animal before commenting that "it
seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there,
powerless to move and yet powerless to die, and not
even to be able to finish him." The killing was
bloody, agonizing and unnecessary. It was caused by
Orwell's context, of being where he wasn't needed and
being forced to take actions that weren't required
because displays of force were requisite to the
maintenance of British power. But like the elephant
itself, the British empire was exposed to the
potential, lingering violence of the native peoples
who could, at any time, overwhelm and destroy it.
The disturbing shooting of the elephant draws
attention to the violence inherent to imperialism, to
the restrictions placed on imperial officers and to
the oppression that is forced on imperialized peoples.
It is Orwell's use of extended metaphor and imagery
that allow his essay to make a wider point about his
experience: that the elephant is not just a single
animal in Burma but a representation of the British
empire itself. The empire has trampled over people, it
has wounded and killed, and it will be put down as a
result. But unlike in the essay, where it is Orwell, a
British officer, who extends the violence, it is clear
that the British elephant will not be euthanized in
quite the same manner. If the Burmese rise up to
overthrow the British empire there will be more
violence than what Orwell has conveyed in his essay.
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