Shooting An Elephant: Making The Abstract Appear Natural

Shooting an Elephant: Orwell on Imperialism: Making The Abstract Appear Natural
George Orwell creates a powerful argument against imperialism through the presentation of its many flaws in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”. This essay describes his life as a young police officer in Burma when he is called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant against his better judgment. In this essay, he asserts that imperialism dehumanizes both the perpetrators and the native people while creating unnatural situations and conflicts. It also forces the perpetrators to watch their every action, acting in ways with which they may not be comfortable. Orwell’s argument is further reinforced because he presents it through a personal story in order to exhibit the awful traits of imperialism as well as strengthen his stance by providing supportive evidence. Imperialism causes

In this essay, he argues that a key perpetrator of bad language is staleness of imagery, a sort of recycling of overused ideas. By sharing a personal story, Orwell can create vivid imagery. Thus, he can ensure that his ideas are interesting and original. Also, through this style he is able to collapse the binary between oppressor and oppressed. He shows that except for the leaders and most powerful people, no one involved benefits from imperialism. The oppressors and oppressed actually have many things in common, they are both mistreated, scared, and controlled. Not all oppressors believe in imperialism or wish to act cruelly. Orwell shows that it is not “either or”, you are not either a native who is oppressed or an imperialist who is pro-imperialism. Orwell’s story breaks this binary, revealing that not everyone who was an imperialist believed in what they were doing, and demonstrating imperialism’s power to make people go against their own