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Critical Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

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Literary texts can depict many problems and situations resonating with its readers. The English author George Orwell addresses situations like governmental control, historical periods marked by oppression and social problems like conformism. These topics are depicted in his works such as the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and the essay “Shooting an Elephant” that is read by many students worldwide. Using these topics as an example, why should secondary students read these works by George Orwell?
Firstly, though published 68 years ago, the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four can give students in secondary school a greater understanding of today’s government. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian science-fiction novel written by the English author George Orwell and was published in 1949. The novel depicts that life of the protagonist named Winston Smith in a society where its inhabitants are repressed by a totalitarian government led by “Big Brother”. Orwell introduced the term Doublethink in this novel. Cliffnotes.com describes this term as «the act of holding, simultaneously, two opposite, individually exclusive ideas or opinions and believing in both simultaneously. » In the novel “war is peace” is an example of this. Today’s remarks from US government brings comparison to this term. After President Donald Trump’s presidential adviser Kelleyanne Conway referred to the President’s claims about the crowd size during his inauguration as …show more content…

From Nineteen Eighty-Four, students can relate how the government use Doublespeak and manipulates the society. Moreover, the essay gives an insightful and personal depiction of a historical event. This can give the students a deeper understanding of the people involved in this historical period. Lastly, both texts can learn the students a lesson about conformity and think for

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