Colonialism In Shooting An Elephant

An exploration of the destabilizing impact of the white man’s dominion in the works of Orwell, Achebe, and Conrad “An Igbo proverb tells us that a man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body” (There was a Country 1). Here the author Chinua Achebe suggests that a man from Africa at the time of colonization could not accomplish certain tasks unless there is proper recognition of history behind them. There have been countless instances in which dominant European forces have colonized respective territories by weakening them. European colonizers have disregarded the natives of the targeted land and intentionally ripped them apart to the extent of eradicating their entire culture. For example, British

Due to the British’s ruling, the Burmese people embraced every chance they had to harass the Europeans. “No one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress” (Orwell 1). Here, it proposes that colonialism has encouraged the Burmese people to seek revenge against the British at any given occasion since the British empire is synonymous to an enormous tyrant to the Burmese. “(...)you can see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters” (Orwell 1). The author, being a police officer, sees all the despicable things the empire does. His work handling wretched prisoners provokes him to oppose the side he serves. In the essay, Orwell is forced to partake in an elephant’s killing. “They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick” (Orwell 1).The Burmese people’s hatred for the empire fuels their desire for Orwell to kill this elephant. Orwell temporarily gets a taste of what the oppressors do to the Burmese. This situation left him no choice other than to do what the Burmese want him to do, analogous to a puppet master controlling his puppet. In not doing so, he would most definitely get insulted and constantly