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Summary Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell Essay

1)Create a T-chart. On one side write specific language that shows how the Burmese are treated by the British and on the other side how Orwell is treated by the Burmese (use evidence from the first paragraph). Who is the victim: Orwell or the Burmese? (Hint: It is the Burmese) Explain using the evidence you gathered. “The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos” The Burmese are the victims of imperialistic Britain as they are treated poorly by their oppressors “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.” The Burmese inflict petty harassments on the narrator, however, he empathizes with the reasoning for their resentment of the British as their actions do not compare to the cruelty of the British

2)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 over these paragraphs? How do they intensify the dramatic conflict?

3)List the reasons Orwell considers when he tries to decide what to do with the elephant. According to his conclusion, what was his main purpose(s) in shooting the elephant? Both the one he uses to justify his decision and his real reason. Orwell alternates between his decision to shoot the elephant and not to shoot it. He reasons that “It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant” as it would eliminate the owners source of income and would simply be unethical. However, he then sees the body of the coolie and thinks that he must at the very least conciliate the elephant. Nonetheless, he admits that “[he does] not in the least want to shoot him” and confesses after shooting the elephant that he was glad the coolie died as it put him legally in the clear and justified his actions. He then goes on to admit that he had no choice but to shoot it as “the people expected it of [him] and [he] had got to do it.” He then reveals that he, and every white man in the East, spent his entire life impressing or at least trying to avoid being laughed at by the Burmese. This, he admits, is the real reason he arrives at the decision of shooting the elephant.

4)List the adjectives that Orwell uses to describe the death of the elephant?. How do these adjectives convey Orwell’s feelings about his decision? How do you feel about his decision? Orwell uses adjectives such as flabbily, slobbered, senility, desperate, weakly, sagging, rattling, painful, and tortured to describe the death of the elephant. These adjectives give a negative connotation to the his feelings towards the death; he seems to feel guilty to kill such a powerless animal. I feel that his decision, while difficult, was the right thing to do for the future of the society. It was necessary to kill the elephant because, while the elephant might seem tame at the moment, it could easily massacre many innocent beings from the village. 5)Recognizing that power is rarely absolute — that is one can be powerful in one aspect of their life while being powerless in another, please answering the following questions. What power does Orwell have? What power does Orwell not have? What power do the Burmese have? What power do they do not have? What does this demonstrate about the “real nature of imperialism”?

6)Much of Orwell’s essay assumes a knowledge of the words imperialism and despotism. What do these words mean? How do they apply to the essay? Imperialism is defined as the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries; despotism is the exercise of absolute power especially in an oppressive and cruel manner. Orwell’s essay is set in Burma which was ruled by imperialistic Britain who treated the countries they ruled ineffably cruelly with no regard to their religion and beliefs.

7)Do you think Orwell wrote this essay to inform or to persuade his audience? How did Orwell expect his audience to react to his ideas? Obviously, you need to identify his audience, and some authors have more than one audience. How can you tell? We can deduct that this essay is intended to persuade some sort of educated British/English man that they are overlooking their lack of power because of the level of vocabulary used throughout the essay and the general topic suggest a level of superiority. He also tries to educate the audience that colonialism is not only harmful to those oppressed but to all the parties involved. Orwell expects his audience to

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