Internal Conflict In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

Pg 269 The feeling i get from George Orwell’s shooting an elephant is that when he started out working as a civil servant for the British Raj that he didn't hate the Burmese. It feels like when he first started out, he got into it with good intentions and that this job wore him down. He has very strong thoughts on the empire and his distaste for it but then he turns around and has an uncontrollable rage for the Burmese.

The entire mood of the essay is determined when Orwell first proclaims the setting to be a “cloudy, stuffing morning at the beginnings of the rains” (1). This line foreshadows the entire situation to be weak and discomforting as drab weather. Later, when the narrator looks back on the natives standing behind him, he sees a “sea of yellow faces,” with “two thousand wills presing [him] forward, irresistibly” (2). This image of an uncontrollable sea pushing the narrator forward like an indominable wall creates a sense of power behind the actual image of powerless natives. Through this imagery, Orwell is able to highlight both the uncontrollable nature of mob mentality, but also the helpless nature of an imperalist conqueror.

Orwell was drowning in their excitement. The metaphor comparing Orwell to a conjuror and the simile comparing the Burmans to a crowd watching such conjuror add to the underlying message of the harm filled imperialistic society they all lived in. Orwell was about to perform a trick,

The British had been an imperial empire at the time, and had ruled Burma. The Burmese people were very Anti-European and because of this they had been oppressive towards those who had been a part of the British Empire. Europeans were not widely liked throughout Burma because they treated the Burmese poorly. Burmese had been pretty harsh towards European’s because of this, laughing at and mocking them. Orwell

The short memoir of “Shooting the Elephant” tells the story of George Orwell’s experience as a british policeman in imperialized Burma. His experience is made up of anger, hate and resentment of conditions he feels is out of his control. Orwell makes many revelations in this story, one of them being, “when the white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.” Orwell also claims, “He wears a mask; and his face grows to fit it.” These statements possess much validity and can be supported in multiple ways.

Imperialism is the state of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy. Most people suffered from the Anglo-Burmese Wars, while other people died harshly from the terrible hardships they faced. Specifically the essay, Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell explains about the oppressiveness of British Imperial rule. In order to prove his purpose, Orwell develops authority through shifts in verb tense, a reflective tone, and word choice; appeals to logic with comparisons; and establishes an emotional connection with the audience through direct reader address, colloquialisms, and imagery.

In his essay Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses diction effectively to convey an ambivalent tone that displays his complex attitudes toward the Natives. Orwell uses “evil-spirited” (285), “beasts” (285), and “crucified” (287) to describe the Burmese, and the word choice demonstrates the variety of connotations against the Natives. George Orwell states that he is “all for the Burmese and still against their oppressors, the British” (285), however, he characterizes the Burmese by using animalistic words which dehumanize them. Throughout the essay, George Orwell chooses his word choice to demonstrate a negative and positive attitude toward the Natives.

Hannah Edmiston Boudreau AP Language Friday 25 September, 2015 Shooting an Elephant Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell in 1936, describes his experience working as a British officer located in Moulmein, Burma. He writes his essay to reveal the cruelty and disastrous outcome of imperialism he witnesses. Orwell uses strong resource of language such as symbolism, metaphors and imagery to express his disdain for British imperialism. Orwell uses symbolism to connect the character of the elephant to the effects of imperialism.

Orwell conveniences the reader that imperialism has not only a negative impact on those run by imperialist, but also degrades those holding the power of an imperialist. Like other works Orwell has written they too have expressed his opinion on social and political aspects. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers can recognize his opinions on imperialism through the narrator’s display of pathos. Orwell over and over expresses his hatred, fear, doubt, and distress for authority of imperialist. The narrator states “As for the job [he] was doing, [he] hated it more bitterly than [he] perhaps make clear.”

When Orwell moved to Burma, he noticed their extreme nationalism and their hatred towards Great Britain. Oceania was striving for strong nationalism and had hatred for Eurasia and Eastasia. Later, Orwell fell in love with his future wife, Ilene, be he felt like he

Well known author and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experiences as a Policeman in Moulmein, Burma during European Imperialism. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the ideal that what is right and what is accepted don’t always align. He adopts a remorseful tone in order to convey to the reader the weight of his actions. By looking at George Orwell’s use of imagery and figurative language, one can see his strongly conflicting opinions on Imperialism. Orwell begins his essay, Shooting an Elephant, by explaining the actions of the Burmese people and by expressing his contempt for imperialism.

Orwell begins his piece of writing with an extremely weak character that has been mocked and laughed at by the people of Burma. Orwell depicts his job situation in which he was “stuck”

Orwell included the symbolization of the nazi party in 1984 so that he could include the theme of psychological manipulation. The nazi party worked their way into the minds of the youth much like the party, but the party also used the telescreens to manipulate the entire population into following them. The Nazis had used devices such as movies and books to spread their ideas and manipulate their followers much like how the party uses the telescreens to control the minds of the citizens. The party holds public hangings of criminals for citizens to watch and even enjoy. Winston says that, “The children always clamored to be taken to see it,”(23).

In George Orwell 's short story titled “Shooting an Elephant” presented an event that changed a countries civilization. George’s life in Burma, and the prejudice placed by the people he oppressed inspired his writing through the uses of setting, style, and theme. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell no specific event influenced this piece rather it was an accumulation of many small events of prejudice and hate by an opposing group of

Throughout “Shooting An Elephant” , Orwell’s narrative style brings out internal and external conflicts that are relatable in society today. The narrator faces multiple internal and external conflicts. One external conflict being the Burmese and how they mock him because he is a representative of the British Empire, but he will do what it takes to show them he is not a fool. "I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.