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George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

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In “Shooting an Elephant”, author and narrator George Orwell thinks back to the time that he served as an officer in Burma, where during his five years of service, he is constantly bullied by the civilians he is supposed to protect. Orwell is ruefully continuing his days among the people when suddenly an elephant gets loose in the town, killing one person and trampling a few food carts. As an officer, it is Orwell’s responsibility to protect the people, and so he sets out after the loose elephant, rifle in tow with a growing crowd behind him. It is because of that crowd of people, with thousands of eyes boring into his back with anticipation, does he realize that he has to shoot the elephant. It takes five direct hits to take it down, and even after multiple other direct hits, “...it took him half an hour to die.” The elephant’s death left Orwell ashamed and torn; on paper, he had done his duty as an officer but deep down …show more content…

When his parents find out about said cup, they are mad, but they tell the child that he needs to tell them the truth about what happened. If the child fesses up and admits that he broke it, his punishment may be lessened for telling the truth, although there will still be a punishment. If they keep quiet or lie, he might get a punishment anyway. This example relates to Orwell’s situation because just as the child may hide the fact he broke the cup, Orwell decides to hide his real reason for killing the elephant. Both the child and Orwell are guilty even though no one else knows, and will continue to be guilty even if they gave in and told the truth to anyone else. Even if the child tells his parents the truth, he will still be punished in some way. Telling the truth or lying does not distract from the wrongdoing; both the child and Orwell are still responsible for the misdeed they

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