Consequences Of Imperialism In Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

As a common trend for many regimes, every government produces conflicts between the ruling and the ruled. The impact of the British Empire’s corruption during the age of colonialism is an example of these consequences. The British government shows contempt towards its foreign vassals, and the colonists in return feel aversion towards their European rulers. The renowned writer, George Orwell is influenced by imperialism’s ethnical conflicts. Despite being a colonial policeman, he is compelled into slaying an elephant by the Burmese colonists to save both his own, and ironically, the Empire’s “face”. In response to this impactful experience, Orwell composes the essay “Shooting an Elephant”. Claiming that both the oppressor and the oppressed is impaired by imperialism, Orwell supports his statement through displaying the irony in his relationship with the natives, adding edges of displeasure and sarcasm in his voice, and vivid imageries of unpleasant situations in order to demonstrate his mixed feelings of frustration and guilt towards the empire’s doings. Due to the fact that British imperialism has established prejudice among locals and Europeans, Orwell’s relationship with the Burmese as a white policeman

One can say that the imperial regime makes everything worse off, considering that the British Empire has also ironically failed itself and crumbled to pieces during the setting of “Shooting an Elephant.” In this essay, Orwell successfully justifies his discontentment and shame to be involved in such an immoral regime through demonstrating how the impact of imperialism has resulted situational irony between imperialists and the colonists, an outrageousness undervaluing of lives, and the portrayal of the oppression on the