Three Messages From George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

Strength and Supremacy

A Discussion of Three Messages from George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant

“So long as there is imperialism in the world, a permanent peace is impossible,” said Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah. George Orwell is the author of the story “Shooting an Elephant.” This story is a personal narrative in which Orwell looks back in time. Orwell’s story is about a police officer in Burma (George Orwell himself) who is faced with having to do something he does not want to do. Burma is a location in which majority of the people are poor and unlike most farmers, used elephants as manual labor. A control elephant is reported lost at the bazaar, Orwell is then called in to shoot the innocent and powerful animal. George originally does not want to kill the elephant, but goes against his own will and kills the elephant. In George Orwell’s story, there are three messages from “Shooting an Elephant.”

In the story “Shooting an Elephant” by Orwell, the first message is imperialism. The purpose of Orwell reflecting on this moment in his life is because it reminds him of the cultural dilemma posed by colonialism, also known as

The personal narrative is filled with examples of power. Colonialism almost always involves a small amount of outsiders handling an incommensurate amount of impact over an immense group of people. The imbalance of power in imperialism seems unreasonable. George Orwell interprets the inequality of power by showing his ability to kill the elephant on his own. Even this allotment of power isn't completely clear. Orwell and the British colonists don’t have complete and utter power over colonial subjects. Becoming clear, the British’s position as colonists has made them less powerful. “He wears a mask and his face grows to fit it." (Paragraph 8) Orwell believes he must do what the Burmese people want him to. This leads him to the shooting of the